We’re down to the final week before the Arlington County Board special election, and while we can’t yet rally around a presidential candidate, we can rally around our fantastic GOP nominee Mark Kelly! Mark has a plan to cut property taxes in Arlington by 10%. This is tremendous if you live in Arlington, and it’s still great even if you don’t – this means businesses that you go to in Arlington will be able to lower their prices. So if you want to see Mark’s plan become reality, get out and help the campaign!

The campaign is continuing their phone bank operation. If you can stop in any time to make calls, whether it’s for just an hour or the whole day, please go to Arlington GOP headquarters, 405 South Glebe Road in Arlington (map).

The campaign will be putting out door hangers this weekend in three shifts – Saturday at 11 am; Saturday at 1 pm; and Sunday at 1 pm. Please meet at Arlington GOP headquarters, 405 South Glebe Road in Arlington (map). Sign up to volunteer here or contact volunteer coordinator Mary Ruth at 571-242-4869 to RSVP.

The campaign also needs volunteers to staff the polls on Election Day. Contact Arlington GOP precinct operations coordinators Goud Maragani (goud.p.maragani@gmail.com) or Bradley McKinney (bradley.mckinney@gmail.com) to volunteer.

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We are getting new RetireJimMoran.com bumper stickers this week! We will hopefully be releasing them at the Fairfax County Convention this Saturday, and we’ll post here next week about how to get one. A new website design will also be rolled out at the 8th District Convention. We’re planning many activities to retire Jim Moran this year!

We will be accepting advertisements from candidates and organizations for the 8th District Convention program. Details will be announced shortly.

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The Colonial Republican Women’s Club is holding its Annual Membership Event with Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli. All those interested in joining the club are welcome to attend this free event. It will be held at 6120 Manchester Lakes Drive in Alexandria (map). Contact Nancy Almasi at lavistadrive@msn.com to RSVP or for more details.

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The Fairfax County Republican Convention is being held this Saturday, March 24th at West Springfield High School, 6100 Rolling Road in Springfield (map). The deadline to sign up to be a delegate has passed, but the convention is open to the public. Click here for details.

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The Republican Party of Virginia announced it is sponsoring three debates for the Republican candidates for U.S. Senate. The first is to be held on May 25th. Details TBA.

The George Allen for Senate campaign is recruiting volunteers to help with making door-to-door and phone contacts. If you want to help, sign up here or call Richard Crouse at 804-726-2012.

If you have volunteer opportunities for any of the other Senate candidates, please email them to webmaster@vagop8cd.org to have them published here and to va8gopchairman@hotmail.com to put them in the newsletter.

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Check out our new 2012 Volunteer Opportunities page for ongoing opportunities to get involved in the elections this year, both with individual campaigns and the party.

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Finally, these events are not sanctioned by the 8th District GOP or the party, but we thought we should make you aware of them.

On Friday, March 23rd, the Stand Up for Religious Freedom Coalition is holding protests across the country against the Obamacare/HHS mandate that religious institutions pay for abortions and contraception, which they morally object to. There will be a protest at 12:00 noon on the 23rd outside the federal Department of Health and Human Services, 200 Independence Avenue SW in D.C. (map). Get more details here.

On Tuesday, March 27th, Americans for Prosperity is holding a “Hands off My Healthcare” rally to protest Obamacare. It will be held at the Upper Senate Park at the corner of Constitution & Delaware NE. Get more details here.