Your Guide to the Grand Old Party-Local, State and National

First and foremost, the Republican County and City Committees are where all the grassroots action happens so joining, volunteering, donating and participating at this level is extremely important for the foundation of a strong GOP.  It should be noted that County and City Committees (often called "units"), do not receive financial support from the Republican National Committee (or "RNC" which is the national organization based in Washington) or from the state party organization, the Republican Party of Virginia (or "RPV") based in Richmond.  Each County and City Republican unit most raise its own money and is governed locally, by its members. The Committee is organized by that unit's "Party Plan" which is defined by Article VI of the Republican Party of Virginia Party Plan.  Like any non-profit organization, the rules and regulations are laid out for how to become a member, leadership, elections for positions, duties, internal structure, filling vacancies, etc.  By clicking on the website links above for your County or City unit, most have a link to their Party Plan for your review or feel free to contact the unit's Chairman and they can provide you with a copy.

Now into the details which can be confusing because......well this is politics!

To volunteer and support Republican candidates, membership in your local Republican committee, of course, is not required.  However, this is where all the action is.  By becoming a member of your local committee and attending meetings you will elect the officers of the local Party organization; decide on the nomination process for city and county level candidates requesting the Republican endorsement; decide on whether the Party will support or oppose local issues (County, City and School bonds, Meals Tax, etc.); vote on amendments to the Party Plan; approve the budget and operational plans for the unit;  and basically, decide the direction of the local Republican efforts.  To become a member of your local unit, you will have to pay a membership fee; be voted on to officially become a member and usually (depending on the respective Party Plan) attend a certain number of meetings each year.  Membership information and forms can be found on the Committees websites along with meeting dates and times. Trust us, it is worth the effort and minimal expense.

Now that I'm a member, what is the structure and how do I participate?

Magisterial Districts

In the maps above, except for Arlington County, you will see that Fairfax, Loudoun and Prince William counties are divided into Magisterial Districts. The county laws have established that the districts are based on an equal distribution of the county's population and a Board of Supervisor and School Board member is elected to represent the citizens living in each magisterial district.  Fairfax, Loudoun and Prince William County GOP Committees follow the same structure. Committee members from the respective magisterial district elects a chairperson, who sits on the Republican County Committee's Executive Committee and administers grassroots organizing activities in the district.  The main activity for each of the magisterial district chairs is to appoint individual precinct capitains, hold local district meetings and assist in recruiting neighborhood volunteers.  

Precincts

For each Magisterial District, and in Arlington County and each City (Alexandria, Fairfax City, Falls Church, Manassas City and Park), they consist of "x" number of precincts.  For example, in the largest county in Virginia - Fairfax County, the Magisterial Districts will have between 25 to 30 voting precincts or a total of 244 precincts across the county.  As you can understand, it is a challenge to find precinct captains and volunteers for each precinct.  This is the essential building block, the backbone of the local party, performing critical tasks in support of Republican

candidates such as passing out literature at community events and greeting voters at the

polls on Election Day.  Please consider becoming a precinct captain!

Chair and Executive Committee

As we mentioned above, the Magisterial District Chairs, elected by the local district members, sit on the Executive Committee.  Every Republican Committee has an Executive Committee with a Chairperson as the organization's leadership.  The Chair is elected by all members in good standing for a two year term at a County Convention.  Any member can run for the Chair and may require a filing fee.  The Chair oversees all aspects of the organization (membership, candidate recruitment, fundraising, budget, etc.) and may appoint, with the members approval, Vice Chairs to oversee specific tasks of the Committee. (Review your Committee's website for a listing of the Executive Committee.) The Executive Committee may take positions on issues and/or policies which in turn, will be presented to the organization as a whole for approval or rejection at Committee meetings.

OK. Now we covered the Local Organization but there are a few twists with Congressional and Legislative Districts plus auxilliary organizations before we address the state and national Republican Committees.