About the 5th District convention and that darn ‘establishment’

By Lynn R. Mitchell

Last weekend’s 5th Congressional District convention has been written about by various bloggers including my Bearing Drift colleague Matt Colt Hall (see Why Garrett Won) and Millennial Ascent’s John Hernandez (Thoughts on the 5th District).

Matt Colt Hall made a very effective argument that we needed to get past the “establishment” argument:

We need to get past this idea that experience is equal to being “establishment” and that the idea of anybody who has been elected to office before automatically means that person is “establishment.” Barry Goldwater served in the Senate for 30 years, Ronald Reagan was a two-term Governor before he was President, and Newt Gingrich had served for 20 years before he even became Speaker of the House.   Experience doesn’t mean you already caved, experience means you have rolled up your sleeves and done something. Experience means you stopped armchair quarterbacking and started actually trying to fix problems in government. No matter if you were right or wrong, it means that you actually did something. Senator Garrett made that argument quite effectively and his margin of victory shows it.

Interesting especially in light of my conversation with someone who attended the 5th District Convention. He was a Joe Whited supporter but had an interesting exchange with a Del Rosso supporter. My friend relayed the remarks that went something like this:

RPV in Crisis: Now what’s going on in Campbell County?

By Lynn R. Mitchell

If a group in Campbell County who call themselves the Independent Conservatives is considered by RPV counsel to be the equivalent of the Democratic Party and banned from participating in the party for five years, why wouldn’t the same apply to anyone in the tea party, Libertarian party, and all other outside organizations?

By blocking these voters from participation for five years, it presents an ingenious way to ban potentially thousands of volunteers and donors from the Republican Party of Virginia which, by the way, is more than $200,000 in debt.

RPV continues to be in crisis.

RPV in Crisis: Due process and rule of law ignored in removal of 5th CD Chair Jon Berkley

By Lynn R. Mitchell

Last weekend’s Republican Party of Virginia State Central Committee meeting may have set a dangerous precedent for the future of the party by ignoring the rule of law and due process. New RPV Chairman John Whitbeck had just finished giving a speech calling for unity and then moved on to preside over the removal of 5th Congressional District Chairman Jon Berkley despite being advised that Mr. Berkley had properly fulfilled his duties as district chair and that the procedure to remove him was illegal.

Ousted Chair Jon Berkley’s overwhelming support from 5th Congressional District leadership

By Lynn R. Mitchell

On Saturday, January 24, 2015, the Virginia Republican State Central Committee took a secret vote to remove 5th Congressional District Chairman Jon Berkley for being a “non-functioning” chairman despite the fact the vote was an illegal maneuver and not in compliance with the Party Plan.

Interestingly, Berkley had the support of most in leadership in the 5th District but their requests for him to remain were overruled by those from outside the District. (That sounds very much like an overreaching federal government.)

Chairman Berkley has served for less than a year. During that tumultuous time when he has continually been challenged and undermined by those who lost the election that put him in the position, he took a District with $45 in its account and over $800 in outstanding bills and, by holding fundraisers and working steadily the past nine months, now has $10,000 in the District’s checking account. But that’s not all he has accomplished. In a post on Facebook, he noted his District also gave Congressman Robert Hurt over 60% of the vote for the first time ever and had more polls manned than any District in the state.

It is interesting the first point of business for newly-appointed State Chairman John Whitbeck was the illegal removal of a district chair and, even though he was shown the error in the maneuvering, he refused to correct the issue. This occurred immediately after 1st Congressional District Chairman Eric Herr declared on Facebook that he promised to form a third party is either Jeb Bush or Mitt Romney won the 2016 Republican nomination for president (see Herr threatens to form 3rd party if Jeb or Mitt get 2016 nod).

The following endorsements are from 5th Congressional District leadership. For more background about this issue, see RPV in Crisis: How is a chairman ‘non-functioning’ when he raises $10,000 for a bankrupt unit? and  Doom for Virginia Republicans by Bill Wheaton.

RPV in Crisis: How is a chairman ‘non-functioning’ when he raises $10,000 for a bankrupt unit?

By Lynn R. Mitchell

Jon Berkley has served as chairman of the 5th Congressional District for less than a year. During that tumultuous time when he has continually been challenged and undermined by those who lost the election that put him in the position, he took a District with $45 in its account and over $800 in outstanding bills and, by holding fundraisers and working steadily the past nine months, now has $10,000 in the District’s checking account. But that’s not all he has accomplished.

On Saturday he was illegally removed by the Republican Party of Virginia’s State Central Committee by a secret vote.

Doom for Virginia Republicans

By Bill Wheaton
Guest Post

I recently came across an interesting Op Ed article in The Freelance-Star, Fredericksburg, VA that caught my attention for two reasons. One was the title, “Russ Moulton’s Election Spells Doom for Virginia Republicans,” and the second was the author, William J. Murray.

This article’s prediction, published on June 2, 2002, came to pass in the 2013 election when liberal Democrats swept all three statewide offices.

The article begins, “The election of Russ Moulton as chairman of the 1st District Republican Committee begins an era of exclusion politics that could destroy the Republican Party in Virginia.”

When I read “exclusion politics,” I immediately thought of the situation we have right here in Campbell County with former Supervisor Rick Boyer. Boyer is a master of “exclusion politics.” I know all too well as I have been a victim of it.

The article goes on, “During his direct and surrogate management of the Spotsylvania (County) Unit Republican Party, dozens of good conservative people, including elected Republican officials, have been purged from the rolls.”

When I read that, I thought to myself the exact thing has happened here in Campbell County. After Boyer was soundly defeated in the 2010 election for Clerk of the Court, he actively worked to purge conservatives such as myself and long time elected officials from the party rolls.

The article continues, “He (Moulton) has accused pro-life advocates as being pro-abortion and called those who have fought for lower taxes ‘liberals.’ ”

Fifth Congressional District annual fundraiser in September

By Vivienne Smith

The Fall signals the start of back to school, cooler weather, football season, and of course, political fundraisers. That time when Republicans get together to eat barbeque, listen to Blue Grass music and meet their local, state, and federal Representatives.

In the 5^th District of Virginia, arguably the largest Congressional District in Virginia, that Representative would be none other than Robert Hurt. In the unlikely chance that you haven’t yet had the opportunity to meet Robert, you can plan to do so at this year’s Annual 5^th District Fundraiser on September 28, 2014, at the Historic Oak Ridge Estate in Arrington, Virginia.

Unofficial results of SCC meeting appeals – Update

By Lynn R. Mitchell

Obviously RPV’s state central committee decided to go on with the appeals process today at the meeting in Richmond that has been going on all day. Here are the unofficial results so far:

Appeal #1: 1st District — SCC voted two-to-one to uphold the 1st District ruling.

Appeal #2: Campbell County — SCC voted 50-27 for to do-over of the Campbell County mass meeting.

Breaking: Jon Berkley wins 5th Congressional District chair – UPDATED

By Lynn R. Mitchell

Jon Berkley, who was attacked at the eleventh hour by a rumor pushed out by a far-right blog, was voted in Saturday as chairman of the 5th Congressional District over Mark Lloyd who was supported by the tea party and endorsed by Delegate Ben Cline and Senator Tom Garrett. The convention, which started at 10:00 a.m., was still going at 3:30 after contentious battles over credentials, rules, and other issues. Stay tuned as we hear more developments. Congratulations to Jon Berkley and his supporters.

UPDATE #1: We’re hearing Jon Berkley won with 59 percent of the vote.

UPDATE #2: Justin Higgins has more from the convention.

UPDATE #3: Rick Sincere has additional details of the convention.