RPV First Vice Chairman Mike Thomas
The Young Guns Godfather puts out the hit and the deed is carried out. It has already happened in Virginia Beach, Richmond City, Charlotte, and now Campbell County.
Last night Mike Thomas, who is the First Vice Chairman for the Republican Party of Virginia, was involved in coordinating the takeover of the Campbell County Republican Committee with the enlisted help of an estimated 100-150 Democrats and Campbell County employees. The facts will disturb you greatly.
Neil Vener and John Ferguson are the individuals who took over the Campbell County GOP last night with the help of Mike Thomas. Mr. Vener and Mr. Ferguson have been active members of an organization the last few years called, “Independent Conservatives of Campbell County.” They have a great title, but they have actively and publicly opposed Republican nominees and run independent candidates against Republican nominees.
The recent tactics they used to take over the Republican Party only further demonstrates their continued contempt for all things Republican. Last night they coordinated caravans of county employees and Democrats to the Republican Mass Meeting. It is estimated that 100-150 easily identifiable county employees and Democrats were present at the meeting.
They accomplished this unprecedented turnout because Neil Vener, former Commonwealth Attorney for Campbell County, submitted a FOIA request to obtain the emails of all county employees in Campbell County. He then sent out an email to all county employees (The Bull Elephant has exclusively obtained this email) to tell them they needed to come to the Republican Meeting to prevent the REPUBLICANS on the Campbell County Board of Supervisor from “blindly cut[ting] taxes and ruthlessly slash[ing] the budget.” In fact, during the Mass Meeting last night Independent Supervisor Stan Goldsmith stood in the meeting defending the largest tax increase in Campbell County history and he received loud and extended applause. Hardly a Republican crowd!
They assured these county employees and Democrats that they did not have to be a Republican and that the Republican pledge that they would be required to sign was “nonbinding,” so they should not hesitate to sign it.
At the meeting last night Neil Vener was elected Temporary Chairman of the Republican Mass Meeting. Mr. Vener nominated Mike Thomas as parliamentarian of the meeting. Witnesses state that Mike Thomas stood by Mr. Vener’s side the entire night, giving him guidance and direction even before the meeting began. I’m sure Mike Thomas will try and argue that he was simply there to ensure the meeting was properly run. But let’s be clear – Mike Thomas was not there at the invitation of the current GOP leadership, but rather at the invitation of Mr. Vener.
The results tell the story:
– They slated off (aka – forcibly removed) conservatives and long-time Republican activist from the local Campbell County Republican unit.
– They elected John Ferguson as Chairman of the Campbell County Republican Committee
– They slated off conservative and long-time Republican activist so that they are no longer able to attend and vote at the 5th District GOP Convention.
– They slated off off conservatives and long-time Republican activists so that they are no longer able to attend and vote at the GOP Statewide Convention to choose their nominee for U.S. Senate.
In all this they kept a few token conservatives as a defense to their actions.
So let’s recap the indictment. We have Mike Thomas, First Vice Chairman of the Republican Party of Virginia, helping two individuals take over the Campbell County unit of the Republican Party of Virginia who: 1) belong to an organization that has publicly opposed Republican nominees and run independent candidates; 2) actively recruited people to the Mass Meeting with the motive to come oppose Republicans who want to cut taxes and the budget; 3) who coordinated caravans of county employees and Democrats to the meeting to accomplish their goal.
It seems to me that questions should be raised on whether or not Mike Thomas can keep his position on SCC given his pro-active efforts to harm the Republican Party with Democrat involvement and with individuals who currently oppose elected Republican officials who want to cut taxes. I am pretty sure tax cuts are the cornerstone of the Virginia Republican Creed! It is pretty easy to see that Mike Thomas is working against our Party and the voice of the grassroots.
One final note. At one point the conservatives approached Mr. Vener with a proposal: accept all properly pre-filed delegates to the Unit, 5th District and State Convention and we will support your Chairman for Campbell County by voice-vote acclamation. The response by Mr. Vener? “F#ck You!”
Yeah, this is the message to the conservative grassroots from the guy Mike Thomas actively helped. Nice.
Next up for Cantor’s Young Guns? Henrico and Fauquier County.
EVIDENCE:
From: Neil Vener [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: Wed 3/12/2014 9:48 AM
To: [Redacted]
Subject: Campbell County’s Future Is In Your HandsDear colleague,
After serving more than 32 years in the Campbell County Commonwealth’s Attorneys Office prior to retiring in 2011, I am writing you and other County employees out of grave concern for the state of our county’s future and the potential impact on your job.
In the last two meetings of the Board of Supervisors, it has become clear that the Board of Supervisors is just one member away from being totally controlled by political extremists whose only agenda is to blindly cut taxes and ruthlessly slash the budget with no regard for the damage they will inflict on Campbell County residents and to you as faithful employees.
You can stop this from happening if you move quickly. But you have only one real opportunity. You, your family and your friends must come to the Campbell County Republican Mass Meeting next Thursday, March 20, at 6:30 p.m. Having as many people as possible who share your views is critical because the number of people is the key to having our voices heard. Please note that you will not have to speak at the meeting.
The extremists already are playing political games with the meeting location, apparently in a move to squash your attendance. So I will have to let you know where they finally decide to hold the meeting. There is no cost to you and you do not need to be a “Registered Republican” to attend. All that is required is that you be registered to vote in Campbell County I am part of a large group of concerned citizens who are doing all we can to keep Campbell County from falling into the political control of these extremists. Please join us at this meeting and fight for the future of Campbell County and possibly the existence of your job. If you don’t feel you can attend, send family members and friends to let your voice be counted.
Please send me an email from your personal computer or cell phone at [email protected] with your name, personal email and personal telephone number rather than any of your work contact information. I will get back to you with the final details of the meeting location, instructions on how the meeting operates and what you need to do once you get to the meeting. If you have any questions, please leave me a message or text me at 434-515-1594, and I will call you back.
Remember: This is an important meeting! You only have one chance to have a say in the outcome. Come next Thursday night!
56 comments
[…] dropping them off the slate of delegates to be elected) to those folks with whom they disagree). RPV Vice Chairman Mike Thomas was one of the masterminds behind this plot, the ultimate aim of which was to end the independence of the state party organization and to put […]
[…] in the 2nd, 7th, and 5th districts last year. This does not speak to “unity”. At the time, RPV Vice-Chairman Mike Thomas said he “had no problem” slating out conservatives in Campbell […]
[…] been more remarkable is the use of Democrat votes to accomplish their goal. We wrote about the slating that took place in Campbell County with the assistance of Democrat participation. That appeal is still making its way up to RPV State […]
[…] Radtke revealed here last March in her Bull Elephant article “Mike Thomas Snuffing Out Conservative Votes with the […]
[…] Thomas, Ray Allen and Eric Cantor have all been close political allies for more than 20 years and Mike Thomas was one of the key individuals responsible for slating in Campbell county, with the help of […]
[…] off (purged) over 100 loyal Republican Lloyd Delegates at the Campbell County Mass Meeting. See http://thebullelephant.com/mike-thomas-snuffing-conservative-votes-help-democrats/. In Charlotte County, Jon Berkley himself throw out 19 qualified Mark Lloyd Delegates – hiding […]
[…] It is important to remember that Campbell County was very unique in their slating, because they slated off almost 100 Republicans from being members in their own local Campbell County GOP Committee, from attending the 5th District Convention, AND from attending the Statewide GOP Convention. It was a trifecta slate! […]
[…] Bull Elephant has documented how Democrat voters and contributors swarmed the Campbell County GOP mass meeting on March 20. Directed by RPV First Vice Chairman Mike […]
[…] The Bull Elephant has reported extensively on the slating that took place in Campbell County. As you will recall, this slating was achieved with the expert assistance of GOP 1st Vice Chairman, Mike Thomas, and with the help of Democrat voters. The results were appalling, with anti-Republican candidates winning office and loyal, dedicated Republicans being disenfranchised from party elections. […]
[…] is capitalizing on this ready availability of cash to ensure that there are plenty of paid staff to turn out Democrats and otherwise to corrupt GOP delegate selection processes in favor of his chosen candidates, and […]
[…] And let us not be fooled. If you are a Republican, the Republican leadership is your enemy. They have chosen to side with interests pitted directly against the average citizen’s vital interests and seem to discover daily even dirtier tricks to retain power – and they must actively deprive you of your right to representation in order to do it. […]
[…] slating out more than 100 delegates in a Mass Meeting attended by Democrats and Republican opponents, is John “Slater” Ferguson changing his tune in his first public […]
[…] slating out more than 100 delegates in a Mass Meeting attended by Democrats and Republican opponents, is John “Slater” Ferguson changing his tune in his first public […]
[…] known as slating. We have discussed this in detail on The Bull Elephant. You can go here and here and here to read about just a few examples of this deplorable tactic that Cantor’s folks are […]
[…] Party of Virginia. We have seen the destruction they have left in their wake in Virginia Beach and Campbell County. The fact that the conservative grassroots successfully pushed back against such heavy “guns” […]
The RINOs ride again. So conservative voters will have to write-in CONSERVATIVE candidates, eh?
It’s not like the Chesterfield County Republican Committee was even remotely welcoming to newcomers. They’re quite content with the Old Guard, thank you very much. New members need not apply. They really are a nasty bunch.
[…] By Jamie Radtke | 23 Comments […]
Mike Thomas is due for a slate shaming.
Karma will get that human wasteland… They have NO idea the how bad the POOPSTORM they stirred up from this is going to be!!! They will have a heck of the time with getting volunteers for their RINO candidates – I for one will NEVER give a dime or volunteer my time to help these creeps. They stiffed Cuccinelli, EW and Obenshain… We will stiff them back and move to REAL red states.
I think they know what’s coming, and they’re willing to go down with the ship. At the Chesterfield meeting where they first mentioned Ed “The Fixer” Gillespie running for senate they mentioned it almost apologetically and prefaced the announcement with, “Please, at least give him some consideration…” It was pathetic.
[…] it’s even worse than that. According to this post at The Bull Elephant, Cantor sycophants have intentionally allied with Democrats in order to silence conservative […]
It is happening in so many places. I got “resigned” from the Wythe County Republican Party. Not sure how a Chariman can “resigned” some one but I did get thrown out of the Party by our Chairman. I too do not drink the RVP “kool-aid”. We have a HUGE problem within the elitist of the Republican Party of Virginia and if that segment keeps it up the state party will implode. Jack Weaver
This kind of thing is why I never bought into the “go along to get along” trend in politics. There’s no getting along with people who are acting out of genuine malice – the only way to rid ourselves of that plague is to confront and expel.
Who is Mike Thomas supporting for U.S. Senate?
Bill Bolling.
Whoever Eric Cantor tells him to support.
Ed Gillespie…of course!
A mobster movie? Ironic that everyone complains when certain people are disenfranchised but has no problem supporting a method of nomination that by its VERY nature is exclusive. People might not like slating but its allowed and part of the convention process.
Any electoral process is by definition exclusive. Under 18? Can’t vote. Got a felony on your record, even a very old one for which you have paid the full price and made restitution? In most places, can’t vote. Own property in two or more different jurisdictions? You can only vote for candidates in one of them. Heck, even if you simply didn’t fill out your voter registration in a timely manner, you are excluded from voting. (And that doesn’t even touch on questions like “are you a white voter in certain districts of Philadelphia?”)
The hurdles for being a delegate to a convention are no more burdensome – unless there is slating going on.
David — what most caught my attention most in this story is the allegation that Democrats were purposely brought in to influence a Republican Party process. If that’s true, the implications are profound.
It is not exclusive at all, unless you are from Virginia Beach. Register as a delegate and come to the convention. Oh, you mean “inconvenient”, not exclusive. Must not be that important to you.
Exactly. I like to see those with skin in the game control the party and the nominating process rather than democrats and the uninformed voters who show up to vote because they’re ‘supposed to’ but know nothing about the candidates we’re nominating to represent republicans.
It’s so nice to see you CONservatives fighting each other and in an otherwise total state of confusion. Just made my day.
Exactly. We can thank Eric Cantor and Mike Thomas for that!
Hmm, I expected to get beat down. Oh well, Time is a wasting my FRiends. This cycle not withstanding We have a plan, you will not take the senate and the lead in the house will be severely cut or erased with our “northern strategy”. (think Virginia). At this time the WH in ’16 is a forgone conclusion. Good luck, we don’t play around.
Conservatives aren’t fighting each other. We’re fighting non-conservatives who have infiltrated and sabotaged our party. You should support us in this, because we share a common enemy: Fascism.
well stated!
Ms. Bank, with all due respect, we really do have more in common as far as our love and desires for the continued blessings for our country. Our philosophies as to how we must get there differ today greatly. I never thought I would wish for a return to Nixonian Repubs, but your party today not only represents fascism, but plutocracy, kleptocracy and economic treason. See you on the dance floor.
Sad truth is that both parties represent those things, which is why when we change leaders the policies don’t change.
The grassroots revolution under way in the GOP is going to give the people a choice of something else for the first time in a generation. Might not be your top choice, but I think you will find the message of liberty to be far preferable to the Fascist police state perpetual war regime we can’t get rid of today.
I can’t help myself, what would that once in a generation change be? Rand Paul perhaps? Every time I hear “liberty” from a Repub my corns hurt.
Sorry to hear that. Perhaps this will help: http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/1089807-treatment
Haha, nice one! However since I got this sweet deal thru the ACA (Obama-care) I’ll let my doctor do all my prescriptions. But thanx, it’s the thought that counts.
[…] there are some Republicans who are happy with this, including those Republicans who rely on Democrat participation in their mass meetings to have the votes to beat their fellow Republicans. Most of these folks are […]
The Democrats even slated Delegate Matt Fariss out of consideration as a delegate to the Fifth District and state conventions!
These folks formed their own “political party” in 2011, misleadingly called the “Independent Conservatives of Campbell County,” for the express purpose of defeating Republican candidates for local office. In 2013, they endorsed all three Democrat-endorsed tax-and-spend members of the Board of Supervisors, two of whom were defeated for re-election by Republican challengers. Their entire mass meeting campaign was based upon defining Republicans as “extremists,” recruiting hundreds of Democrats to the Republican meeting, and assuring them that the required pledge of support for the Republican Party’s principles and candidates is strictly “nonbinding.” Their entire campaign was based on lying to voters and recruiting enough Democrats to a Republican meeting to outnumber the Republicans. It was presided over by Mike Thomas.
And they did this to the county committee that has given either the highest or second-highest total Republican vote percentage in the Fifth District every year for the past four or five. What a knife in the ribs.
The utter soulless immorality of the Washington and Richmond “Republican” leadership is nakedly displayed for all to see. What a disgrace.
They slated off a delegate! Delegate Matt Fariss was slated off the 5th district convention and the state convention! There is NO excuse for that!
The 20 or so people they slated off in Richmond included the District’s treasurer, its SCC member, three Richmond executive committee members and a Vice Chair. So they targeted specific contributing members of the party.
Terrible! These people are ruthless and they’re destroying our party!
Thanks Jamie for exposing the Richmond run political hatchet operation going on around the state. The epicenter of the “War on Conservatives” was, as you have so well pointed out, last evening in Campbell County. It was clear, being their in the thick of it, who was in charge and exactly who was calling the shots. This goes much further than the old turf wars of the past. This is a calculated effort of the party bosses to purge ALL conservative elements from our party-by any means available. The call to arms is now. We need to engage them at every level of this fight.
Exactly correct Chris. If we’re going to restore our Republican party, we must purge these exclusionary hacks who are concerned only with consolidating power….growing the party is not a priority.
There’s no way that anyone who uses democrats to oust republicans should remain in power in the RPV. No way.
I recall Mitch McConnell swearing to do just that!
And this….SO yea, GOP unity. We heard it preached at the hostile Dem takeover of the Campbell GOP last night right before the new regime- who is now charged with re-electing Steve Newman, Delegate Kathy J. Byron, and Matt Fariss- SLATED OUR GOP DELEGATE MATT FARISS OFF THE DELEGATE LIST FOR BOTH THE 5TH DISTRICT AND STATE GOP CONVENTIONS! If this is any indication….well….. These folks who locked Delegate Farriss off his own delegation were led by Mike Thomas, Vice Chair, RPV. More RPV, anyone?
Good article, Jamie and most accurate indeed to my observation, and I was there the entire time. And then there’s this. Yes, at the hostile Dem takeover in Campbell last my mother took issue with the nasty treatment of the long-time Republican grassroots workers who were run out of the Committee, and slated off the delegate lists. Confronting one of the ringleaders, Richard Metz, he told her, and I quote,” if you have a problem with anything we did tonight, see Mike Thomas”, and then proceeded to point him out to her. BUSTED!!
Mike does not mind playing dirty, did the dirty deed for Allen..
“Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap”! Disgusting.
time for mike Thomas to be voted out of the leadership with the SCC