RPV chair Rich Anderson will run for a second term

Excellent news! People have to remember where the RPV was in the summer of 2020 when Rich took over. It was an organization flat on its back — only 4 staffers, no money in the state account to speak of, no FT executive director, and an HVAC system that did not work so staff couldn’t work in the building (which the party owns outright, so it’s obligated to do the upkeep) To top things off, rioters smashed the big picture window on the first floor. Rich had a rough going handling the SCC meetings during the whole 2021 convention/primary squabble, but he plowed through it, got money into the system, repaired the HVAC(and the broken window) and did a lot to revive the organization. RPV now has regular candidate training sessions around the state and revived the Commonwealth Dinner, which raises money for the organization. It has staffers in NoVa and other parts of the state and a FT executive director. Yes, we lost the GA this year, but RPV just followed the lead of the GOvernor’s PAC and “Secure your vote” and what the House and Senate caucuses and their consultants said we should be stressing — and it turned out the Dems’ anti-abortion deluge cost us the GA. People also should know this — RPV chair earns NO salary at all, just getting reimbursement for trips. In addition, because there is no cap on donations to candidates in Virginia state and local races, donors are more apt to donate to candidates, not the RPV. But Rich has managed to get a FT executive director, media person and other people to advance the GOP cause in Virginia. And it’s a tough job where you seem to get blamed for everything that goes wrong and never get credit for anything you do that’s good — so, I am happy Rich is running again and hope he will not be challenged and we can focus our energies on building our base for 2025’s state elections.