11th District Convention

Since this was my first experience with a convention, I wanted to file my thoughts away for a moment.  A big crowd showed up, but not as many as filed . . . but I am proud to say that us here in Fairfax City all showed up!  There was excitement at the beginning, thats for sure.  I was stuck outside doing registration for most of the opening parts but I did catch some of Keith Fimian's speech, and it was good.  Jim Gilmore arrived and made his way around talking up the crowd -- but I have to say that I think with the Prince William contingent that Bob Marshall was better represented.  I got to spend time with Amy Frederick as well, who gave a great speech about the grassroots and what Del. Frederick will do.

John Brownlee is officially running for Attorney General, and seemed to try and relate the fact that he went to Robinson High School with everyone.  Most people really had no idea who he was, but he stuck around for awhile.

The race for State Central really bogged everything down . . . David Ray and Patsy Drain were reelected, but the last spot is what took a long time, and it boiled down to Steve Hunt and Keith Damon - both of whom I have come to know and respect through Hunt's time on the school board and Damon's work for Cuccinelli.  After the second ballot, many of those who supported Steve (who led but did not have a majority) left.  The counting of the ballots was agonizingly long and tedious.  By the call of a third ballot it was fairly obvious Damon would overcome Hunt, which he did. 

The real credit for the entire event was former state senator Jay O'Brien.  He graciously agreed to serve as Chairman of the Convention and worked hard to keep the speeches short and the convention moving.  During the long interludes, O'Brien was funny to the point of telling stories and cracking jokes and really helping to keep everyone's sanity.  I also wanted to come to his defense on the only real unpleasant thing I witnessed.  One of the resolutions offered was that condemning HB3202 as a debacle, and it passed unanimously.  At which point Jim Parmalee turned towards Jay and yelled "hear that, unanimous."  It was a disgraceful comment.  O'Brien already faced the voters and lost his seat, there was no reason for Parmalee to kick sand in O'Brien's face in front of the entire convention.  Agree or disagree, O'Brien worked hard in the Senate and his goal was more money for Northern Virginia.  Might I add, Parmalee was at the 4th of July parade shouting the name of O'Brien's fellow HB3202 supporter, Jeannemarie Davis.  I don't know, Parmalee is entitled to his opinion. but to embarrass O'Brien like that really festered in my mind and was an insult to all the work O'Brien has done for Republicans in Northern Virginia. 

Overall, the Convention was fun but frustrating.  I think there is an inherent unfairness in the process, and it appeared during the Hunt-Damon showdown.  Many of Steve's and Keith's supporters both went home, as did many others, for family reasons; which watered down the vote and created too many weighted delegates for my liking.  Hunt's vote basically stayed the same, and Keith seemed to gobble up the weighted votes of the rest of the candidates.  There is no time limit in a convention, and many good Republicans just could not stay because of the time.  I understand the argument that we want people who are willing to stay to lead the party . . . but I think that unfairly questions the "Republican-ness" of those who want to stay but can't.  I also understand that all party positions have to be filled in a convention, but I could only imagine what a zoo this would have been had we had a contested congressional nomination.

As it is, it was a learning experience.  And again, after doing what he did, I think Jay O'Brien really showed class and I hope he can find a way to get back in the arena as soon as possible.

Comments

[James Young]

Truth be told, Chris, I'm not entirely sure that Parmelee's comment was directed at Jay. I was on the podium, and my impression was that it was directed at Debbie, the Secretary to record the fact accurately.

I would agree with you about the time it took to count ballots, but at least one report that I got was that it was the result of the Fairfax County election official feeding in the optical-scan ballots one at a time, and/or candidates (interestingly, none of the winners) hovering over those conducting the process.

[Chris]

Either way, I don't see how the comment wasn't meant for Jay because he had literally just said that it passed unanimously.

And also, to be fair, I saw every single candidate coming in and out of that ballot counting room.

[26-PT-TWO]

I attended, but had to leave by about 2:00. I needed to get my gear together for a triathlon on Sunday and I didn't want to miss the Fimian kickoff at the firehouse. My husband had a speech to prepare in advance of a board dinner on Sunday, so he also had to bag and work for a couple hours. We knew a lot of people who couldn't make it to the Fimian kickoff and we wanted to ensure a crowd to greet him and Sen. Warner and Rep. Davis. Davis delayed his trip in order to be there for him. The kickoff was totally packed, which was a very pleasant surprise to me. I expected people, but not that many! There were a lot of hungry people from the 11th district's marathon length convention and I think they were happy to see all that food at the firehouse. It was a good kickoff.

My extended excuse for poor Republicanness and bagging early on Saturday is that I'd had several days of little sleep due to job and volunteer obligations and I was looking at a grueling early morning of competition on Sunday. A couple people I talked to have kids they had dropped off but needed to pick up after various sports and activities. Leaving your kid stranded after practice is not generally cool, I guess! But I'm glad there were people willing and able to stick it out, and I'm glad for everyone who put their name in for consideration for these positions.

And I've got to say special thanks to Jim Hyland and all the people who worked so hard. Jim really works his tail off for these events and I do believe he is making FCRC much stronger.

Also, to be 100% fair and balanced in convention reporting, I would note that John Hager was also in attendance on Saturday. He was out chatting with delegates between votes when I saw him. And he did visit our FCRC meeting on May 13th, where he delivered brief remarks.

[Bill]

I was bored with the entire thing so I left after the first ballot (I supported both Steve & Keith - they're personal friends).

Next year, they need to do immediate tallying using a computerized system.