In every “unit” (city or county) in Virginia, all the voters in that city or county who “hold to Republican ideals” are invited to a Mass Meeting at least once every two years. We use the term “hold to Republican ideals” because in Virginia, voters don’t register by party affiliation. So in an effort to keep Democrats and others from voting in our business, we require voters to sign a statement of agreement when they sign in to their respective mass meetings.
Voters are invited to a mass meeting by way of a “Call.” This call is published by the local Republican committee following guidelines put forth by the Republican Party of Virginia. The Call states the date, time, place, and purposes of the meeting along with information on who can come and vote. It is published on the local, district, and state Republican websites; it is emailed to everyone on the local committee’s email list, and it is often published in the local newspaper – although that is optional.
The concept of a mass meeting is that all of the Republican voters in a given unit gather together to elect people to fulfill certain duties. A Chairman is elected to be the legal representative of Republicans in that unit, as well as to lead the “local committee.”
The local committee is also elected at the mass meeting. This committee makes decisions on behalf of all Republican voters in that city or county. Their decisions include candidate selection or endorsement, fundraising, and any other area that involves the Party.
Additionally, mass meetings vote to elect delegates to district and state conventions. The only people who can vote at these conventions are individuals who were duly elected as delegates from the unit in which they are registered to vote. [I will explain what happens at these conventions in a future letter.]
I hope this helped you better understand some of the workings of your party. As one of your representatives to the State Central Committee, I will work to help you better understand how your party is supposed to work, do all in my power to help it work that way, and help you improve our government by developing and electing quality candidates, supporting them in office, and holding them accountable to the values on which we elected them.
Please consider voting for me to be one of the three members of the State Central Committee that you will elect at the Sixth Congressional District Convention on Saturday, May 21st, beginning at 10:00 a.m. at Cave Springs High School in Roanoke.
Cordially,
Steve “Doc” Troxel, Ph.D.
P.S. Do you agree that elected officials – whether in a Party office or a public office – work for the voters? Believe it or not, some elected officials think it’s the other way round. More on this in a future letter.