A Look Back on Last Year

With the dawn of 2011, it is a good time to look back on the last year. Countless blogs and political sites have recounted the biggest stories of the last year, and made predictions for 2011. I thought it would be interesting to see what stories from this site you thought were most important. The following is a list of the 5 most visited articles on this site from the past year.

1. Greg Habeeb for 6th District GOP Committee Chairman, Bill Stanley for 5th District GOP Committee Chairman; Ironically both of these men are running in special elections next Tuesday. They are both running strong campaigns, and will be fine replacements for Morgan Griffith and Robert Hurt.

2. How will the Student Loan provisions affect me? Part II; In many ways this speaks to the biggest story in VA politics of the year. D.C. passed a healthcare bill full of unknown and dangerous provisions, and Virginians have lead the way in fighting it.

3. Why Joshua Solovskoy resigned as Michael McPadden's Campaign Manager; This was one more story of the mess that was conservatives shooting themselves in the foot in the 5th District nomination fight. Hopefully we have learned our lesson and can avoid such destructive infighting in future nomination contests.

4. Virginians Should Vote NO on the Constitutional Amendments; If an organized campaign had formed at least one of these could have been beat...

5. Trixie Averill Supports Undermining the Republican Party; For an article written very late in the year, it definitely got a lot of traffic fast. It also shows one of the things this blog is committed to: holding Republicans, and especially party leaders accountable.

Let's work together this year and put a conservative majority in the state senate this year. While there is a lot of talk about the 2012 Senate race right now, the state senate elections are the only general election this year, and winning them is critical to continuing the momentum heading into 2012.

Greg Habeeb withdraws from 6th District Chair Race

Greg Habeeb announced at the 6th District Committee meeting on Saturday that he was withdrawing from the 6th District chair race. You can read the details on his blog. No official word yet, but I wouldn't be surprised to see Greg run for Morgan's seat - assuming that Morgan defeats Boucher in the 9th district this November.

Danny Goad for 6th District Chair

In what has to be one of the more crowded races for District Chair in the state, Danny Goad announces he is joining the race. Greg Habeeb, and Trixie Averill are both already running.

Danny H. Goad Announces He Is Running For Chairman of Republican Party, Sixth Congressional District

Citizens of the Sixth Congressional District,

It is with great anticipation and a strong sense of duty to serve that I write to you. After encouragement of many throughout the district I want to let you know that I am running for Chairman of the Republican Party of the Sixth Congressional District of the Commonwealth of Virginia. I believe as a nation and a state our best days are yet to come and that freedom fought and died for by our Founders is resurging. Great encouragement should be taken in the activity we are seeing in groups in our localities like the tea parties and Constitutional advocacy groups. For freedom to endure we must set the stage for it to be nurtured. We cannot sit idly by and think that business as usual will accomplish the task. We must be deliberate in what we do. We must have a plan for correcting the things that we are not doing well as the Republican Party.
As Chairman of the Sixth Congressional District I will work hard to strengthen the local units in accomplishing our stated goals and to grow the Party. The purpose of the Republican Party is threefold. First, we have an obligation to advocate the principles of the Republican Party and represent those electing us in our respective units. Second, we have an obligation to work hard to get Republican candidates elected to office. Lastly, we have an obligation to assist elected Republican office holders as they have need to attend meetings or otherwise assist them. I believe the Sixth Congressional District does a good job working on campaigns and assisting elected Republicans.

As we reflect on the events of the last year we recognize that our district is not what it was one year ago. Something has changed. Citizens are on their own volition speaking out in a constructive manner on the issues of liberty and the role of government. Once again citizens are talking about the Constitution like it means what it says. While Republicans recognize that this resurgence of liberty is a good thing, we must be true to ourselves and acknowledge it did not originate in the Republican Party. We must ask ourselves right here in the Sixth District what we must do differently to nurture this freedom.

We have a great opportunity to participate in this renewal of freedom. Our greatest strength is our principles. What we say we believe is the only thing that makes us different from the Democrat Party. The principles of the Republican Party are quite simple and are expressed concisely in the Virginia Republican Creed. Of particular note is the fourth clause of the Creed which refers to Constitutional limitations. As I have intently listened to many citizen groups in the last year I get the sense they feel the Republican Party has let them down in the Party’s failure to abide by Constitutional limitations. Specifically, they say, “On what authority does the federal government have the permission to dictate what health care plan we have? On what authority do you pass the TARP legislation and provide no accounting of the funds? On what authority do you pass ex post facto legislation that targets specific individuals and takes their assets?” These are but a few examples of concerns of the citizen’s groups. Many citizens feel to a large degree that the response of the Republican Party has been silence. Recognizing our weakness is the first step in gaining the confidence of those who feel our actions do not match our rhetoric. As Chairman of the Sixth District I will not be silent on these issues.

We declare that we are a grassroots organization when we need someone to volunteer with the campaign but we sometimes cringe when we are asked by a volunteer why an elected Republican took a certain position on an issue. I think this is a natural human response. We don’t like it when the actions of elected representatives that we campaigned for are questioned. However, we must be willing to hear the concerns of citizens and be willing to advocate for them when we view their concern and recognize it as consistent with the Republican Creed and Constitution.

The Sixth District Republican Party has the opportunity to embrace freedom in a manner not paralleled in recent history. If we embrace the principles espoused in the Declaration of Independence and the United States Constitution, the Republican Party will grow. As Chairman I will lead that effort.

Very briefly I will tell you some of my political experience and I’ll follow-up with more at a later time. In 1992, I joined the Republican Party and went to my first state convention in Salem. In 1993, I was elected Vice Chairman of the Republican Party of Hampton and was responsible for organizing the city-wide campaign of more than 300 volunteers. Simultaneously, I was City Coordinator for Mike Farris for Lieutenant Governor. 1994-Elected to Hampton City School Board, organized North for Senate campaign in Hampton. 1997, 1998-Elected Chairman of the Giles County Republican Committee. 2001-SW VA Area Director Jay Katzen for Lt. Governor. 2006,2008-Elected Vice-Chairman of the Botetourt County Republican Committee. I have a record of growing the Republican Party.

By trade I am a Mechanical Engineer, licensed in two states, and hold an engineering degree from Virginia Tech and an MBA from the College of William and Mary. I am also a graduate of The Apprentice School at Newport News Shipbuilding. I am married and have six children.

We have a fantastic opportunity to more fully embrace the ideals of our Founders: the opportunity to pass a greater freedom to our posterity. Let’s work together to promote liberty in the Sixth District. Will you join me in reaching out to Virginians who share our vision of limited government who have not been active in a political party? Will you join me in my campaign for Chairman of the Sixth Congressional District? Please call or email me and I will let you know how you can get involved in my campaign.

Sincerely,
Danny H. Goad
(540)354-9556
dhgoadpe@msn.com

Greg Habeeb for 6th District GOP Committee Chairman, Bill Stanley for 5th District GOP Committee Chairman

As some of you may have heard Salem GOP Committee Chairman Greg Habeeb has announced his candidacy for Chairman of the 6th District GOP Committee and Franklin County GOP Chairman Bill Stanley has announced his candidacy for Chairman of the 5th District GOP Committee. Both Bill and Greg have been hands down two of the best, if not the two best, unit chairs in the Republican Party of Virginia over the past few years and both were named "Unit Chairman of the Year" by their respective congressional district committees.

Many of you know Bill Stanley from his unsuccessful bid for RPV Chair last May as well as his work as Chairman of the Franklin County GOP Committee.  As a local unit chair Bill has without a doubt distinguished himself and his committee as one of the best in the state and was named "Unit Chair of the Year" for the 5th District two years running. In Franklin Country, under the leadership of Bill Stanley, the GOP Committee has seen their fundraising and membership increase greatly. I worked on Bill's campaign for RPV Chairman and I can think of no better person to lead the 5th District GOP or RPV for that matter. Youth is something the RPV and GOP as a whole needs desperately. Like Greg, Bill will bring much needed youth to the leadership of the 5th District Committee. Additionally, there is much tension between Republicans in the 5th District at the moment as you may well be very familiar with via the massive amount of news media and blog coverage. The Republicans in the 5th District need an experienced leader with enthusiasm as well as new and innovative ideas who can bring the party back together to work for our common goals. That experienced leader is Bill Stanley. I encourage any and all 5th District Republicans to support Bill Stanley to be the new 5th District GOP Committee Chairman.

Bill's website from his run for RPV Chairman is still up and you can click here to access it. While I have not confirmed this, I will be willing to bet that Bill will use many of the same ideas from his run for RPV Chair that you find on the above website if he is elected 5th District Chair.

Greg has done an outstanding job as Salem committee chair and was recognized as "Unit Chairman of the Year" for the entire Republican Party of Virginia in 2008.  I fully endorse his candidacy and encourage any other Republicans in the 6th District to attend the 6th District convention and support Greg. He will bring new ideas, enthusiasm, and much needed youth to the 6th District Committee and State Central. I would also like to add that if it wasn't for the enthusiasm and welcoming attitude of people like Greg I would have been reluctant to get involved with the local GOP in Roanoke during my breaks.

Here is Greg's email to 6th District Republicans:

Fellow 6th District Republicans

It was great to see so many of you in Richmond this weekend for the Inauguration of Bob McDonnell, Bill Bolling and Ken Cuccinelli. We face tough times as a Commonwealth and as a Nation but there is no question that we are now led by the best possible team in Richmond. I wish I could say the same thing for Washington. At least we have a great Congressman, Bob Goodlatte, doing his best to fight back the Obama/Pelosi/Reid agenda.

While this is a great time to be a Republican in Virginia, we must admit that for years our Republican elected officials have grown detached from their constituents and moved away from the fundamental principles on which this Party was formed. We lost our identity, we diluted our brand and we've paid for it electorally. The desire to restore our party to its core principles and rebuild our brand was the driving force behind my deciding to run for Salem Republican Committee Chair a few years back. Over the last 2 years, we have made great strides in Salem. Our Committee has grown exponentially in numbers without sacrificing our principles. We have put an infrastructure in place that has local Democrats panicked and scrambling to catch up. We have raised our profile through traditional and new media. We have raised money and supported our candidates while still holding them accountable. Simply put, we have made our Committee relevant.

Believe me, these efforts by so many on the ground have not gone unnoticed. There is a new buzz about the Republican Party in Salem. We have won elections with record numbers. Elected officials are now reaching out for our support and recognizing the need to stay in touch with those of us in the grassroots. Ultimately, we were humbled to be named the 2008 Unit Chairman of the Year for the entire Commonwealth and the 2009 Unit Chairman of the Year for the 6th District. I say "we" because those awards are a reflection of the work done by dozens and dozens of people.

As I pondered what was next, many of you have approached me about running for Chair in the 6th District. I must admit, this was not initially on my radar screen but, the more I thought about it, the more I believed that we could bring a new energy, purpose and focus to the Committee. We could provide the type of leadership necessary to restore unity where it is lacking in the 6th and build on our already solid infrastructure. Over the last few weeks I have spoken to numerous grassroots and elected leaders in the 6th and I have been humbled by the positive response I have received.

It is for all of these reasons that I am announcing my candidacy for the Chair of the 6th District Republican Committee to be elected at our Convention on May 22nd in Lynchburg.

Over the next few weeks I hope to speak to all of you to let you know some of my ideas and to get feedback from each of you. Until then, know that my goal in running for this position is not power, control or personal gain. I am doing this to support you, the grassroots leaders in the 6th District, and to continue to make the 6th District the strongest Republican District in the State.

Thanks and I look forward to speaking with you soon.

Greg

Cross posted @ Roanoke On The Right