If you're a member of Sully (or Mason) District and you are in the Fairfax County Republican Committee and you thought your voice counted … well, get ready to eat shit.
Last night night the FCRC executive committee voted to send the membership of FCRC a proposal that requires a firehouse primary in 7 districts (Springfield and Braddock have a public primary because they have Republican incumbents who get to select the process they want). “But Chris, don’t you love firehouse primaries?” I do, but that’s the tricky deal that is going on here. The SAME people who voted for this were the ones who weeks ago decided they wanted to ask the districts themselves what method of nomination they wanted - Sully and Mason district came back with mass meetings. As I’ve reported on earlier, what this is all about is the leadership of the local party are in the bag for Brian Schoeneman and actively trying to game the system in his favor. They thought that someone who’s lived in the district for 5 days would have the sway to get the magisterial committee to vote his way, which obviously he did not. Sully’s membership voted overwhelmingly (only Brian and his wife voted against it) for a mass meeting.
And before you let Boss Hogg’s mouth breathers tell you this is some primary versus convention debate, it is not. The reason that Sully went with a mass meeting was they were looking at four (now three) candidate race and the party plan does not currently permit any form of run-off election for a primary or fire-house primary. What this is really about is FCRC leadership gaming the system for Brian Schoeneman. It is powerful county Republicans led by Pat Herrity, NONE OF WHOM LIVE IN SULLY DISTRICT, telling Sully district how to nominate their candidate and making it favor someone who has literally just moved there and has endorsements almost solely from outside the district. Sully is being used here. They were asked by the Ex-Comm to tell them what they wanted, and when it came back not in favor of Brian Schoeneman (and when I say not in favor, I don’t mean some down the line vote that was decided by 1 or 2 people - it was an overwhelming repudiation of Herrity and Schoeneman), they said f*ck it, why are we letting 22 people decide this. FCRC figures the 22 residents of Sully who actually give a damn enough to join the local committee, become precinct captains, and try to work on the grassroots level aren’t worthy of deciding who their nominee should be. That’s up to Pat Herrity and FCRC. And damn, if you're going to game the system at least find a candidate who knows people in that district and isn't meeting precinct captains on Facebook for the first time. Both John Litzenberger and John Guevera have endorsed a mass meeting, by they way, and both have lived in Sully since before the NFL playoffs started.
So if you are a member of FCRC and you are going to the meeting next week to vote on this proposal, please consider this. If it can happen to Sully and Mason, it can happen to you. This is NOT about convention versus primary - because neither a mass meeting nor a firehouse primary are exactly conventions or primaries anyways, so that's just a head fake they are throwing at you thinking your dumb and won't see what is really going on. This is how they will dress it up to get you to vote their way. What they are really asking you to do is vote to silence the expressed wishes of Sully and Mason district. And if they can do that once, they’ll do it again. How can anyone at FCRC look its members in the eye and say with any validity that your opinion matters? Why even have district committees anyways?
Does FCRC have any respect for its membership? Don’t wait to find out, if you're an FCRC member go to the meeting next week and make them respect you.
GREAT piece Chris. Also worth noting: the Sully incumbent was also nominated at a Mass Meeting.
Posted by: Steve Thomas | February 13, 2015 at 02:37 PM
There is nothing in the party plan that states a canvass can't be conducted for a majority (rather than plurality) outcome. It is typically not done that way, but it would only require an ordered preference ballot (first choice, second choice, etc.) with lowest first choice getting dropped off after the first round of ballot counting, and so forth. You can also call a pre-canvass to determine who will be on the ballot for the actual canvass (i.e., the top two vote getters). Just because the model call for a canvass doesn't do it this way doesn't mean the Plan prohibits it.
Posted by: BullElephant | February 13, 2015 at 04:52 PM
I live in Sully and have been a precinct captain for Stone North and South for many years. I would have voted for the mass meeting as well but with 3 kids and 1 on the way I haven't been an FCRC member for a few years. It is sad that people outside Sully are making the decisions for us.
Posted by: Rick S. | February 13, 2015 at 04:59 PM
Small correction to Steve Thomas: Michael Frey was first nominated in 1991 by convention, not a mass meeting. He beat Robert Stuber (now living in Spotsylvania County) for the nomination.
Since then, Michael has always been unopposed for renomination. I know he was renominated by primary in 1999, 2003, 2007, and 2011. I strongly suspect he was renominated by primary in 1995, but I haven't been able to confirm that.
Posted by: David C.F. Ray | February 13, 2015 at 06:56 PM
Brian is a turd of the lowest order who makes his living carrying water for Democrat front groups who are diametrically opposed to Republican policy goals in general And activelyo support our opponents at every turn. He is a walking talking Conflict of Interest
Posted by: Sick in Sully | February 13, 2015 at 08:00 PM