An Issue of 'Primary' Concern!
It's Heartbreaking When Your Own Team Works Against You
You would think that the Republican Party of Virginia (RPV) would be a friend of Virginia’s Grassroots Republicans – well, at least on the same team. But they were anything but friends – anything but our teammates when they voted in June 2019.
An Example of the Power of Unaccountable Votes
On the RPV State Central Committee agenda for their June 22, 2019 meeting, was a vote concerning how they should handle the nomination process for the next slate of Republican Candidates for U.S. Senate from Virginia. The nominee would then represent the Republican Party in the General Election in November 2020. They had two choices: Either to
1) handle this nomination process as part of the upcoming State
Convention, already being planned for 2020,
or ,
2) have a Statewide Primary in 2020
The decision was theirs and there was no one twisting their arm
What is the Importance of this Decision for Us in the Party?
This difference is not frequently discussed, but is easy to understand.
> Convention: Here is the simple way to sum-up the benefits of a convention;
you get better, more true Republican Nominations.
Why? Because it is more difficult for Democrats to infiltrate the process.
// These deterrents serve as filters when doing a convention:
- There is a loose but basic vetting process for Delegates
- With a convention, you have to set aside a day or two for the process.
- There is a fee involved of some kind
- You often have to go through several ballots to get a winner. That’s a good thing for us because
we get to talk with fellow delegates between each vote, refining our reasons for voting for a
particular candidate.
- If Dems want to infiltrate the process, they are going to have to get through the vetting process,
and then it’s going to cost them in time and money. Accordingly, most are discouraged from even
trying.
- Result – we tend to get better, more truly Republican winners.
> Primary: This is a totally different story because there are virtually no deterrents for the Dems to mess
with OUR selection process for selecting OUR candidate.
// These incentives make it easy
- Because we do not register by Party in Virginia - any registered voter can participate in the
Primary
- It’s convenient because it is normally held at their usual polling place
- It takes very little time
- They do not have to pay a fee
- They are not vetted in anyway, other than being a registered voter
- Result – Dems can and do very easily mess with the election process to select our own
Republican nominee!
For those of us who have served as an Election Officer, we can testify to the influence first hand.
They are Working Against Us and Our Party
So how did the RPV State Central vote in June 2019 about this issue?
They voted to hold a Statewide Primary!
Particularly in 2020, it would have added little additional work or costs to a State Convention we were already planning to hold! So there was no excuse for not having this nomination occur at a convention rather than a Primary.
Amazingly, the truth appears to be that there are those in the Party who are ‘OK’ with Dems being a part of OUR Party process. Our own State Republican Party – the RPV State Central Committee – is sending us a strong and clear signal: They actually prefer Dems being a part of OUR Party process!
This needs to change!
Would the Proposed Amendment have changed the Outcome?
The simple answer is yes!
The vote in June 2019 was
40 for Primary
35 for Convention
If the Proposed Amendment had been in place, the vote would have been
27.5 for Primary
34.5 for Convention
Check out the chart below.
Making Our Voice Heard
This is one of the biggest challenges our Party in Virginia faces: Whether we are going to continue allowing our voice to be drowned-out and overpowered by unaccountable votes, or will we make the appropriate changes so that our voice can be clearly heard.
This Primary vs Convention scenario is a clear example of how unaccountable votes work against the voice of the Republican Grassroots. My motivation is to do whatever I can to bring back the Voice of the Grassroots of our Party – your voice – to the decision-making process of our State Party. The Proposed Amendment to the Party Plan is one of the most powerful ways to do this. So that’s why I support this amendment and I urge all of you who may be delegates to the State Convention, to join me in voting for it.
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