I go to various meetings around the district asking Republicans to sign up as convention delegates so they can vote for my reelection to the GOP State Central Committee. At those same meetings, I hear other candidates for Sixth District offices make their campaign speeches. The lack of understanding by some candidates of what it really takes to do the jobs they are seeking is disheartening.
The Sixth District Bylaws left a lot of flexibility regarding the duties of the Regional Vice Chairs (RVCs). About all it says is that the three regional RVCs “shall provide organizational assistance to the Unit Committees within their jurisdictions and under the supervision of the District Vice-Chairman perform other services as requested by the District Committee or District Chairman.”
Unfortunately, with the desperate need we have in Virginia to get every possible conservative vote out of each county and city, the District’s RVCs must be more than just “organizational assistants.” Each unit needs to be as efficient, as focused, and as effective as possible. The best Regional Vice Chairs are individuals who have experience as successful unit chairs, who have turned weak or dysfunctional units into thriving and effective units, and who have generated a significant increase in voter turnout in their own units. Without that experience and insight, the RVC will be able to provide only limited help to the unit chairs within their regions as the chairs work to bring their own units to the highest levels of effectiveness. The job of an RVC is not for the inexperienced. These are jobs for people who have been in the trenches and gotten results through personal effort, through hard-earned experience, and through their ability to energize others to get the job done.
The State Party Plan outlines the duties of the State Central Committee (SCC). In a nutshell, the SCC serves as the Board of Directors of the Republican Party of Virginia (RPV). We on the SCC are the final word on Republican politics in the Commonwealth. As such, the battles are fierce, and the intrigue is intense. It is no place for the timid, the inexperienced, or the insecure. It IS a place for grassroots conservatives who can and will hold to their principles no matter what. It is a place for those who have developed relationships with people from a broad range of viewpoints and who know how to work with those people to bring desperately needed reform to the RPV.
We do not need SCC representatives who cannot or will not stand up for the constitutional, conservative values of the majority of Sixth District Republicans, especially in the face of strong-arm tactics from the other side. We need SCC representatives whom voters know and respect because they stand firm for conservative ideals.
For District Chairman, we need a leader who leads by example, by respect, and by experience. In no universe is the chair supposed to dictate to the District Committee and attack Committee members when the Committee chooses to go a different way. The District Committee is a deliberative body of individuals who represent defined constituencies. Those constituencies have a free voice in Committee deliberations, as expressed by the representatives they have elected to the Committee. To dictate to the Committee is to dictate to every Republican in the Sixth District. And as I recall from honest history books, Virginians helped fight a revolution and a bunch of wars since then because we don’t like dictators.
By now you may know that there are two slates, two teams of candidates vying for election at this year’s District Convention. One slate was built in secret and was more concerned about the age, race, and gender of the candidates. The other team was announced early on and is headed by a man of integrity, experience, and proven leadership. This team consists of solid grassroots conservatives who have proven their abilities by their accomplishments and whose collective goal is a huge margin of victory in the Sixth District for Donald Trump, Ben Cline, and our Republican candidate for U.S. Senate. This team is intent on developing a conservative majority on the State Central Committee so that the RPV is no longer captive to the control by power brokers, but instead is focused on service to the liberty-minded Virginians who have elected us to be their voices.
Do not vote for candidates just because they make a good speech or because you recognize their names or for any other non-essential reason. Cast your vote for the candidates who are best able to do the jobs to which you will elect them, jobs that are so crucial to the safety and well-being of our District and our Commonwealth.
The Hard Part Comes after You Win
