chairman pat mullins and scc letter to gop caucuses

8/13/2019 Chairman Pat Mullins and SCC Letter to GOP Caucuses

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January 20, 2014

Virginia General Assembly

House Republican Caucus

Senate Republican Caucus1000 Bank Street

Richmond, Virginia 23219

Dear Speaker Howell, Majority Leader Norment and Republican Legislators,

Thank you for your service to our great Republican Party and the Commonwealth of Virginia.We, the below-signed members of the Republican Party of Virginia State Central Committee,

greatly appreciate the efforts and sacrifices you make to advance the principles of our

Republican Party in state public policy.

We write to express great alarm regarding two pieces of legislation we understand you are

considering: SB507 and HB194, and/or similar bills. These bills constitute blatantlyunconstitutional interference with a political party's rights of free speech and free association

rights that political parties have exercised in the Commonwealth for over 200 years.

Whatever method of nomination Party members prefer Primary, Convention, Canvass or MassMeeting we should all agree that decision should rest with the Party, not the state. How the

Party organizes itself, conducts its business, and chooses its nominees is core to the Partys First

Amendment rights to free speech and free association. These bills strip the Party of theseimportant freedoms. Moreover, from a practical perspective, these bills eliminate the flexibility

Party leaders and individual Units need to handle unique situations in a way that is in the Partys

best interests.

We strongly encourage Republican leadership in the House and Senate to withdraw these bills

altogether. They are offensive to the Partys grassroots base of support, and create disunity inour Party when our focus should be on defeating Mark Warner and Obamacare.

Should these bills become law, please be advised that we Members of the State Central

Committee intend that RPV shall explore all available judicial relief so that we may vindicate theFirst Amendment rights of the Party and its members. We believe the relevant Supreme Court

and 4th

Circuit Court of Appeals precedent on these questions is abundantly clear. Further,

irrespective of this unconstitutional legislation, we intend to proceed pursuant to our rightfulauthority to select our methods of nominations as we always have (including Conventions, Mass

Meeting, Canvasses and/or Primaries), confident in our constitutional rights.


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Every Republican legislator needs to know in advance that SB507 and HB194 constitute an

assault on the rights of our Party and its members, and that by voting for them you will be voting

to invite Attorney General Mark Herring to litigate against the Republican Party of Virginia,costing the Party and the taxpayers considerable resources that would be better spent elsewhere.

We will defend our First Amendment rights and, in the end, we will prevail in court.

As Party Leaders seeking to be helpful to you, we urgently advise you to oppose these ill-

considered and unconstitutional bills. We believe there are much more attractive and less

restrictive alternatives for achieving the ostensible aim of these bills: greater militaryparticipation in non-primary nomination processes. We remain more willing than ever to help

you achieve this aim in a way that does not interfere with the Partys free exercise of its First

Amendment rights.

Thank you for your service and your immediate attention to this most serious matter. Werespectfully ask your written response to our request that you pull these unconstitutional billsimmediately.

Sincerely,

The Following Majority of the Republican Party of Virginia State Central Committee:

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE MEMBERS

Pat Mullins Morton Blackwell Kathy HaydenCHAIRMAN NATIONAL COMMITTEEMAN NATIONAL COMMITTEEWOMAN

Kevin Gentry Juanita Ballenger Don HuffmanEASTERN VICE CHAIRMAN EASTERN VICE CHAIRWOMAN WESTERN VICE CHAIRMAN

Suzanne Curran Bob FitzSimmonds Diana BanisterWESTERN VICE CHAIRWOMAN TREASURER SECRETARY

Eric Herr Christopher Stearns Wendell Walker1STDISTRICT CHAIRMAN 3RDDISTRICT CHAIRMAN 6THDISTRICT CHAIRMAN

Terry Wear John Scott11THDISTRICT CHAIRMAN YRFVPRESIDENT


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STATE CENTRAL REPRESENTATIVES

Steve Albertson Larry Kile Allen Webb

Carol Dawson Curtis Colgate Roger Miles

John Salm Stephen Thomas Carl Anderson

Chip Muir Rick Michael Peyton Knight

Chris Shores Renee Maxey Sharon Jones

Scott Sayre Travis Witt Georgia Long

Anne Fitzgerald Mickey Mixon Joe Sonsmith

Rich Nilsen Anne LeHuray Susan Edwards

Marcy Hernick Eve Barner Kay Gunter

Heidi Stirrup Jo Thoburn David Ray

Patsy Drain Keith Damon Heather Homan

Jeff Wernsing Mark Kelly Jeanine Lawson

Barbara Tabb

chairman pat mullins and scc letter to gop caucuses

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