Fairfax Republican Committee Ignores Members and Chooses Firehouse Primaries in all districts

written by Jeanine Martin February 23, 2015

As we reported earlier Republicans in Sully District overwhelmingly voted for a mass meeting to nominate their candidate for Supervisor. Mason District also voted for a mass meeting. Committee members living in Dranesville and Mt Vernon voted for primaries.[read_more] The will of the members of all those districts were ignored on Monday evening when the entire committee voted to force every district to have a firehouse primary or canvass. The desires of the members in 4 of the 7 Fairfax magisterial districts were ignored. One has to wonder why the committee even bothered to allow the districts to vote.

Listed below are the dates for the firehouse primaries in each district. The canvasses will be conducted between 10:00 am and 3:00 pm. Locations are preliminary depending on school availability.

Sully: Saturday, April 25th at Westfields high school

Dranesville: Saturday May 2nd at Colvin Run elementary

Providence: Saturday May 2nd at Oakton high school

Lee: Saturday May 2nd at Lee high school

Hunter Mill: Saturday May 9 at South Lakes high school

Mason: Saturday May 9th at Falls Church high school

Mount Vernon: Saturday May 9th at South County high school

More here.

Jeanine Martin

Also known as Lovettsville Lady, I am a Republican activist in the wilds of western Loudoun County.

Stephen Spiker

I must say, kudos on ditching the conspiracy angle. It’s amazing how sticking to a simple analysis, rather than tying in personal vendettas, can boost the credibility of a post.
- Jeanine Martin
  
  Thank you.
Jay McConville

How does the Committee “ignore[s] members” when all members vote? Are you just trying to whip people up? Were you at the meeting? A calm and fair vote, everyone had their say, majority ruled. Here’s a headline recommendation: “FCRC Selects Firehouse Primaries for Supervisor Nominations by Overwhelming Majority Vote of all Members.”
- Steven Thomas
  
  …with the Sully members unanimously voting against.
  
  Tyranny of the majority.
  - Jay McConville
    
    So we should throw away the rules? They made an amendment. It was defeated. That’s how this stuff works.
    - Jeanine Martin
      
      Who cares what those Sully District republicans want anyway? It’s all about what Pat Herrity and the establishment republicans want and they want to do all they can to help that solid Republican Brian Schoeneman. Many examples of his solid ties to the party can be found here: https://twitter.com/schoenemanisms
      - Stephen Spiker
        
        Sigh, you were doing SO WELL, Jeanine.
        
        Explain to me why you think Pat Herrity or Brian Schoeneman has anything at all to do with either the opinions of the FCRC Exec Board or the majority of FCRC members who voted last night.
        
        You can’t, so please stop it.
      - Jeanine Martin
        
        Sorry, but your naive act isn’t working. At all.
      - Stephen Spiker
        
        It’s not naivete. It’s you making absolutely baseless accusations to satisfy a personal vendetta and/or help out a campaign you’re involved with.
        
        It’s disgusting and it’s beneath most bloggers, but sadly for everyone there doesn’t seem to be a floor on what you’ll post, regardless of who you regurgitate it from or how deceitful it is.
      - Jeanine Martin
        
        Darn, you were doing so well there for a minute. Sigh……..
      - Jay McConville
        
        This has degraded to farce. Westgate Precinct voted overwheimgly for Romney. Why should they be forced to have Obama as President for Westgate? It’s an outrage!
      - Flash Man
        
        What?
      - Jay McConville
        
        Joking obviously.
      - Savoia di Lucania
        
        I don’t follow why you, a Loudoun County resident (and almost a West Virginian for that matter), care so much what happens in the middle of Fairfax. And your disdain for Brian Schoeneman is kinda pathetic. Obsessed much?
      - Jeanine Martin
        
        Why wouldn’t I care? I lived there for a couple of decades, my kids and many friends still like there. Read the post again, and perhaps you will see that I never mentioned Brian Schoeneman.
      - Stephen Spiker
        
        You literally just mentioned Schoeneman in the comment that Savoia responded to. Your disdain for reality is mind-boggling.
    - Steven Thomas
      
      Wait, “majority rules”? Since when? It sure looks like the majority- overwhelming- of folks from Sully were ignored completely, bullied by a few establishment hacks on the executive committee and a bunch of folks from other districts who won’t ever cast a vote in Sully- though they will certainly enjoy the tax hikes Brian will vote for, if he gets the nod.
- Jeanine Martin
  
  Please read the Steve Thomas’ comment below.
- Jeanine Martin
  
  Didn’t Sully voters vote against Firehouse primaries? Why must all districts have the same method of nomination?
  Never mind. Rhetorical question. We all know the answer.
  - Jay McConville
    
    I dunno, cause that’s what the rules say? Don’t like it, vote to amend the rules. Oh wait, you are not a member of the committee. Sorry. How about Stephen? Oh, he’s not a member either. Oh well.
Lawrence Wood

The one thing I think you can say here confidently is that from a non participant looking at what went on from the outside it certainly doesn’t look like it was all conducted very effectively. I certainly hope the firehouse primaries are managed with less miscommunication. The ones conducted here recently in the 10th District under current Chairman Whitbeck were quite effective but I know it required a lot of hard work and preparation by the local precincts with I believe more lead time to prepare.
Betsey_Ross

It’s beginning to look as if there is a huge schism in the Republican Party. So much sniping at each other. It all points to the fact that establishment Republicans are beginning to show their true colors. It’s happening all over Virginia. Some places have successfully fought it and others need help. All it does is leave the rest of the Republicans with no place to go, so they stay home. The Republicans will not win in Virginia ever again until you figure out how to make the stay-at-homes get out and enthusiastically vote for a real Republican candidate. When Republicans unite under their creed it will happen. Doesn’t look very good for now.
- Lawrence Wood
  
  You have almost arrived at the conclusion, not quite but almost, forget the creed its an illusion, words that hold little meaning to most Republicans. This has moved to a far more important question that is do we wish to retain our constitutional republic and the rights its grants each of us or not?
Steve Albertson

I have a couple of questions on this, and would be grateful for any informed answers.

First, don’t the FCRC bylaws delegate the authority to make this decision to those committee members who reside in the respective magisterial districts? If so, why the organized push to overrule them once they made their decisions? It does not strike me as hyperbolic to see an ulterior motive involved in such an instance, but would love to be educated otherwise.

Second, who drafts the calls for each of these (if they haven’t already been drafted)? The complaint most people who would favor a mass meeting in these circumstances have is the mistaken belief that a canvass cannot be held to ensure someone gets to 50% before they’re declared the nominee. The calls in the affected districts could split the difference and require a canvass but also require ordered preference voting (i.e., vote your first, second, and third choice with the top two first choices moving on to a second round of balloting so that someone has to get to a majority). Seems to me that would help make everyone involved happy.
- Lawrence Wood
  
  Good questions but I don’t believe this is about process its about power, who has it and who sits down and shuts their yap with Ms. Martin serving in the role of lightening rod. Unfortunately the informed answer ship has long left port, but good luck.
- Jay McConville
  
  The bylaws say the entire committee

Fairfax Republican Committee Ignores Members and Chooses Firehouse Primaries in all districts

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