10:37 National Delegate winners: Virgil Goode, Jim McKelvey, and Diana Shores. (Sorry for not posting earlier…ran out of juice).
Steve Albertson
6:50 Final percentage: 58% for Garrett, 42% for Del Rosso. Congratulations to Team Tom!
Steve Albertson
6:44 Results coming in. The Bull Elephant projects that Tom Garrett has won the nomination on the third ballot. Final percentages coming momentarily.
Steve Albertson
5:41 State Central Sweep for the Fellowship! Top three vote getters are Renee Maxey, Jo Holden, and Ed Yensho. Results are as follows:
Maxey: 30.6%
Holden: 27.07%
Yensho: 25.24%
Harvill: 17.07%
Steve Albertson
5:41 Here are the detailed results:
Steve Albertson
5:38 Going to a third round. Here’s the results of the second round: Garrett’s in first, with 45.42%. Del Rosso with 36.12%, and Whited now with 18.46%. Whited is out for the third ballot.
Steve Albertson
4:39 I don’t see any way we get out of here without a third ballot face-off between Garrett and Del Rosso. McKelvey supporters splitting between the two, despite McKelvey’s endorsement of Garrett. Some Whited supporters have peeled off to go for Garrett, but not enough to end the race on this ballot. Both Garrett and Del Rosso will increase their percentages this time, but neither will be able to get over 50% until Whited’s folks make their second choice. Following that logic, I think it’s starting to look grim for Del Rosso. Unless just the right people didn’t stick around for the second ballot, or a ton of Whited people suddenly switch to Del Rosso as their second pick, Garrett is likely going to win a third ballot. But I’ve been wrong before.
Steve Albertson
3:51 Don’t have exact percentages, but on first ballot, Del Rosso had 32%, Garrett 29%, Whited 20%, and McKelvey had just shy of that. McKelvey is dropped from the next ballot, and is encouraging his supporters to back Tom Garrett. The crowd gave a warm round of applause for McKelvey out of respect for his positive campaign. Second round of speeches starting now, for two minutes apiece. Balloting to begin thereafter.
Steve Albertson
3:17 Results are coming in…Del Rosso and Garrett appear to be in a dead heat. Whited is next, and McKelvey looks to be in last place. Given counties still being counted, looks like Del Rosso may be in 1st. Issue raised with Campbell County delegation, as one of the ballots in the mix came from a voter who failed to sign the certification before she left the convention. Some folks want the vote thrown out, while others are gearing up to fight that.
Steve Albertson
2:55 Early returns coming in showing surprising (to me anyway) results for Joe Whited. Don’t have district wide totals yet. From what I’m told, McKelvey may be the low man out of the running on the next ballot.
Steve Albertson
2:53 Apologies for sporadic posting. Internet access is really bad. Thanks to Josiah Tillet for loaning me his mbile hotspot!
Steve Albertson
1:56 Garrett’s speech is about doing the hard, necessary work of government. He says’s its about “earning it,” and cites to his upbringing and a solid record of keeping promises. Garrett probably got the most significant sustained applause, though it’s clear there are pockets of the room not with him. Balloting has now begun.
Steve Albertson
1:32 Tom Garrett is up, and is introduced by E.W. Jackson, who gets the crowd warmed up for Garrett.
Steve Albertson
1:42 Missed Whited’s speech, but came in at the end and saw an impressive amount of applause.
Steve Albertson
1:32 News from the 11th: PAUL PRADOS DEFEATS TERRY WEAR FOR 11TH DISTRICT CHAIRMAN. Congrats, Paul!!
Steve Albertson
1:25 McKelvey gives a very “tea party” type of speech, emphasizing all of the fundamentals, the Founding documents, and American Exceptionalism. He also highlights his belief that the private sector must be tapped to fix the problems of our government, capitalizing on the fact that he’s the only candidate with a positive business record. McKelvey gets emotional speaking about abortion, and ends his speech on a firey note, drawing cheers from his supporters and those of other candidates.
Steve Albertson
1:18 McKelvey’s speech is delayed with audio/visual trouble (apparently he wanted to open with a video). Instead, Donald Trump State Director Mark Lloyd takes the microphone to give an introduction speech for McKelvey. Lloyd gets great applause whe he says he’s “the Trump guy in Virginia.”
Steve Albertson
1:12 In keeping with most of his campaign, Del Rosso weaves national security issues into his speech, linking failures of Congress to exercise proper oversight of the executive branch directly to the collapse of America’s reputation and international standing under the Obama administration. Del Rosso’s presentation is polished and passionate. It is no mystery why he’s had success on the campaign trail. At the end, he elicits sustained but scattered applause. Up next: Jim McKelvey.
Steve Albertson
1:10 Del Rosso gives a great and rousing speech, and clearly has a lot of support in the crowd. Starts with speaking to the importance of the Second Amendment. Says the Constitution allows us to bring about a revolution every two years by changing the Congress. “But did any of those changes change Washington? NO!…We got sold out.”
Steve Albertson
1:02 So now on to the main event. (Again). All four candidates get 10 minutes, which they may allocate how they wish among nominating speakers and themselves, so long as the candidate cedes no more than 50% of his time. First up: Michael Del Rosso.
Steve Albertson
12:59 For reasons not entirely clear to me, Virgil Goode was asked to speak again. He owned the room. Now up is Cynthia Dunbar to announce that all four Congressional candidates signed on to her resolution, committing to bring articles of impeachment if Article I legislative powers are usurped. A show of unity, and a real manifestation of the anger of the conservative electorate. Dunbar’s announcement is met with raucous applause.
Steve Albertson
12:49 Now, on to the main event: the Congressional candidates.
Steve Albertson
12:47 My good friend Renee Trent Maxey just finished her speech for State Central. She was introduced by Fauquier’s Peyton Knight (a fellow SCC member) and by former Rep. Virgil Goode. So far, Renee got the most applause. She will likely return to SCC after today’s elections, where she will continue to serve with distinction. Renee is followed by Bill Harvill, who is not a big hit with the crowd.
Steve Albertson
12:34 Ed Yensho of Greene County is speaking now. Also on the Conservative Fellowship ticket, Ed is about as solid as a rock, and will be a welcome addition to the State Central Committee.
Ed Yensho delivering his speech to the 5th District Convention
Steve Albertson
12:28 State Central Committee candidates speaking now. First up is Jo Holden on the Conservative Fellowship ticket.
Steve Albertson
12:07 Chardon Jenks gets huge applause when railing for conservative values, and against the GOP establishment. BUT, she’s followed by former Rep. Virgil Goode, who obviously has a strong following here, eliciting loud applause with good old fashioned conservative red meat.
Steve Albertson
12:01 National Delegate candidates up first, at 2 minutes apiece. Top three vote-getters will win delegate slots, and those coming in 4th, 5th, and 6th place will be alternates. Audio is difficult because of the acoustics of the room, except for really strong speakers. The only thing I caught from the first speaker was her name (Deedee Bondurant) but that’s only because she held up a hand-drawn sign with her name on it.
Steve Albertson
11:50 Over 800 delegates certified in attendance. Rules are adopted, so now we move on to nominations. Which means speeches, and then voting.
Steve Albertson
11:49 Cynthia Dunbar and E.W. Jackson hanging out around the Tom Garrett war room, off of stage right. Dunbar is promoting a resolution to be agreed to by members of Virginia’s Congressional delegation that Congress should draft articles of impeachment should the executive branch or judicial branch usurp legislative branch authority under Article I of the Constitution.
Steve Albertson
11:35 Moving quickly through the preliminaries. Lynn Tucker, who was unopposed at this Convention, was elected Temporary Chairman. She and other temporary officers will become permanent upon adoption of the rules, which should happen without opposition in just a few minutes. While we wait for final delegate check-in information, we’re hearing from Rep. Robert Hurt.
Steve Albertson
11:31 Fifth District GOP Chairman Lynn Tucker brings the gavel down to great applause. Rev. Travis Witt delivers an inspiring invocation. Highlight of the opening, though, is singing of the national anthem, led by Daniel Bradshaw. Absolutely outstanding job by Daniel!
Steve Albertson
11:23 Three things are being decided today. First, delegates to the Republican National Convention. Second, members of the State Central Committee. And third is the marquee contest: the Republican nomination to replace retiring Rep. Robert Hurt.
Steve Albertson
11:20 And we’re off! Things are slow getting started here in Nelson County. There’s a full house in the Nelson High School gymnasium, butapparent indecision about how to proceed. Gavel was supposed to have come down at 11:00 AM.
Steve Albertson
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