Thank You (and apologies)

THANK YOU to everyone who participated in the 11th District Convention yesterday. You were one of only a few hundred people who came out to determine the course of the Republican Party for a district with a population of nearly three-quarters of a million residents.

I especially want to thank my supporters. Special shout-outs go to my volunteers, my financial supporters, and the many of you who signed up to be first-time convention participants because you shared a vision for new ideas and a renewed focus on growing the party and winning elections. Extra special thanks goes to my family, who endured many extra nights when I was away from home, and weekends when I was tied up making phone calls or writing campaign materials.

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I also want to apologize for the unacceptably long delay between the first and second ballots. This was caused by a tabulation spreadsheet and voting machines that were not in synch with each other. I noticed a possible problem with the tabulation spreadsheet a week ago when it was sent to me for review as a candidate, and I did express my concerns to a couple of party officials, but in retrospect I did not press hard enough to get this resolved in advance of the convention when my concerns were ignored.

If you have not heard the results, all three incumbents in the race were reelected; I came in fourth. Personally, it is undoubtedly for the best - I will have more time to spend with my family and turning out the Republican vote in the Providence District of Fairfax County.

As long as I have been involved in the Republican Party in Virginia, I have seen that the real influence and the lion's share of the hard work of freedom is at the precinct level, where people talk with their neighbors, and network around their schools and community groups, and knock on doors in their larger neighborhood. That will continue to be the case. And I will continue to do everything I can to equip, motivate, and respect the volunteers who make this all happen, particularly in the Providence District which has recently made me their Chairman.

I hope you will join me. We have a primary coming up on June 12 to choose our Congressional and Senatorial candidates for this year. Not only should you vote in this primary, but it is also an excellent venue for recruiting yet more volunteers who will be more boots on the ground to help us win Virginia in November. Please save the date, and contact your precinct captain to let him or her know if you can help out for a couple of hours at the polls. (If you don't know who your precinct captain is, please email me your name and address and I'll redirect you to the right person.)

After seeing how things go on June 12, you can decide for yourself whether you think primaries or conventions do more to grow our party, and please make your voice heard on this issue.

I also will continue to be an advocate for reforming the convention system for intra-party races. More than ever, I believe it is disenfranchising for far too many people, too technologically backward, too arcane for most activists to understand, and too often fails its purported purpose of engaging and energizing local activists.

The new 11th District Chairman Terry Wear and State Central Committee members David Ray, Patsy Drain, and Keith Damon deserve congratulations for their well-fought win yesterday. They all can frequently be found at local GOP events, so please make their acquaintance if you haven't already, and know that you are welcomed and encouraged to voice your thoughts about the local and state GOP to them.

What matters most of all, of course, is that we take back our Country, our State, and our District from the statists who are robbing us of our freedoms and our children of their future. I look forward to all of the GOP races being settled by the middle of next month, so we can all jump in the same boat and start oaring together at ramming speed. I hope to be pulling an oar next to you.

Gratefully,
Lillian

Convention Rules Update

If you're registered as a paid delegate to the 11th District convention tomorrow, you should have received a mailing from me this week that included a more detailed explanation of how participation in the convention and voting will work. This information is also available on this website by clicking on "How Does This Vote Work" above.
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Since then, you may have heard that the Rules Committee for the convention was considering changing the voting method from majority (winners must get over 50% of the vote) to plurality  (whoever receives the most number of votes wins, even if less than 50%). The majority method was specified in public notices that went out months ago, but plurality would take less time because only one round of voting would be required.

The Rules Committee decided NOT to make the change during their meeting late last night. That means the majority rule still stands (unless the participants in the convention amend the rule from the floor).

An important point you should know about the majority rule is that voting a full ballot will help the convention finish sooner. In other words, if everyone chooses 3 candidates each for State Central Committee and National Delegate, it is more likely that some or all seats will be filled on the first ballot. If you only vote for 1 or 2 people, there will be fewer votes to go around, and fewer people will be selected by at least 50% of the voters.

If the convention proceeds to a second or subsequent ballot, please pay close attention to how many people you may vote for in each race, and who is still left for consideration. E.g. if only Candidate A for State Central Committee wins a majority in round one, you need to be careful to select only two candidates in round two, and do not select Candidate A as one of the two, because he or she has already been seated. If you vote for more candidates than you are allowed in a round, all of your votes for that position will be invalidated, though your votes for the other positions may still be counted.

If you want to get updates on your mobile device to help you keep track of what's going on during the convention, please provide your email and/or mobile phone number by clicking here and checking the "May 19 Rapid Response" box. You can also come to my table just outside the #6 entrance and ask questions of me or my volunteer helpers.

As a final note, the Rules Committee also determined last night that each of the candidates for Chairman of the 11th District will be allowed to speak for 3 minutes, and each of the other candidates will be allowed to speak for 1 minute. This gives you a brief opportunity to see them in person, but not enough to get to know them well, so I encourage you to read and bring the emails and mailings you have been getting from all of the candidates to get to know them better. Please arrive at Oakton High School no later than 11:00 a.m. in order to see the candidate speeches.

See you tomorrow!

Lillian

* P.S. In case you're wondering what my position is on this majority vs. plurality issue... I would have preferred a plurality vote when the rule was originally set by the 11th District Committee back in February, because the convention would take less of your time and it would be less confusing. However, I do not support a last minute change to the rules, especially when the person appointing the Rules Committee members potentially stands to benefit from the change. So I was glad to see the Rules Committee act independently and keep the original rule. If the convention participants choose to change the rule from the floor, however, I believe that is a fair process.