Senate P&E Chairman Mark Obehnshain
Virginia Senate Privileges and Elections Committee Dashes Hopes of Anti-Convention Forces
Just a short while before 5:00 PM today, the Senate P&E Committee voted unanimously, 15-0, to “Pass By Indefinitely” SB 504, the Senate version of the legislation designed to ban nomination methods other than primaries.
This victory comes on the heels of a tremendous outpouring of grassroots opposition in the last two days, led by members of the Republican Party of Virginia State Central Committee (including Chairman Pat Mullins), as well as dedicated activists from a broad coalition of conservative, tea party, and liberty groups. As recently as Sunday, it was unclear whether there were more than perhaps two Republican votes (out of 8) committed to killing this bill. These legislators were moved by a tremendous volume of emails, telephone calls, and dedicated lobbying by ordinary citizens concerned about preserving theirs and their party’s freedoms.
But we’re not out of the woods yet, folks. The House version of this legislation, HB 194, is still alive and is scheduled for hearing this Friday at 9:30 AM. If you haven’t already, please make sure you call your House of Delegates representative to tell them to vote this bill down!
