It’s a shame that the 3rd largest unit in the state has become such a mess. (FFX is 1, Loudoun is 2 i believe) You would think the powers that be would encourage a quiet resignation instead of it letting it get to a public extrication. I mean, really, how does one even show their face in public, much less lead the party, after all of this?

It’s really a shame when, in a year with so many incumbents at stake, all the focus is on one person. With PWC practically the only NoVa area still winning GOP seats, this could prove disasterous to our candidates, incumbents AND challengers, if left to fester, unchecked. How do you get past the perception that the PWCRC is equivalent to the “chicago mob” as some other blogger mentioned? Who will ever believe they will get a fair process again?

Alas, this latest controversy, could result in the demise of the GOP in PWC. How heartbreaking for the party stalwarts who have worked so hard for so many years to achieve the GOP domination they have in PWC. And how heartbreaking for the excellent GOP elected officials to be tainted as “guilty by association”.

Answer: not very long really… i think it’s maybe a 30 day process… and it probably wouldn’t be RPV, but either the 10th or 11th District Committees can disband and reorganize (including a new chairman) any unit committee that isn’t functioning for the good of the party. As i understand it this was recently done to another committee, by the 10CD i believe. i’m not sure which unit, so i don’t want to say, but it was local.

There was no such pledge. There was a pledge that the delegate INTENDED to vote for the winner. Anyone who intended for Julie to win and intended to then vote for her could have signed that pledge in good faith.

The PWCRC chose to qualify its loyalty pledge with the verb “INTEND.” It is not for James Young to paraphrase the pledge after the fact to make it stronger.

No one agreed to James Young’s paraphrased pledge.

AMEN!

Those who have left the party due to the games that Kopko has played since taking office, need to come back. Kopko needs to be challenged. Every decision he makes questioned and he needs to defend these decisions. When his term expires, he needs to be challenged, and every gaff, misstep and failure illuminated.

Cory Stewart did seem a bit flustered at times and several people got right in his face and yelled at him.

It may be pyrrhic victory for many in the Republican Party.

This local party turmoil at a time when PWC holds strong GOP influence is unfortunate, however justice must prevail and if it means burning down the house to flush out corruption then it must be done.

Now is the time to channel all this energy into replacing the PWCRC Chairman.

I don’t understand how the party members and even some elected officials apparently have stood by (grumbling to be sure) and watched the train knowing it would wreck yet again. Once the money thing came out i can’t believe he wasn’t removed. They still have him for nearly another year AND he will run his own convention for re-election too…

I have seen plenty of blog posts asking RPV to intervene, but they cannot. So it’s really up to the PWCRC to deal with this. If they leave him in, then it’s hard for them to complain when further train wrecks and embarrassments occur. I see where some folks simply quit the party. That’s no answer either. In order to CHANGE (improve) the party and it’s processes, one must be involved. Even if it’s unsuccessful, the “offender” can’t help but take notice and at least people TRIED to correct the situation.

While i don’t know all the ins and outs of LCRC i’ve heard stuff. I don’t think (at least from i know) it’s the Chairman out there. But if there’s a few committee members rocking the boat, that’s even easier to fix. Just recruit more members into the committee and you can vote to do things differently, thus avoiding the so called “follies”.

Let’s see, you think that Kopko, Stewart, McQuigg, Gill and several others are in some grand conspiracy. You sound a lot like Mr. John Gray.

But again, it’s not all of them. And, again, it’s usually only those that “blow” that get publicity. Sad but true. But that doesn’t mean we should give up on the process OR the Party. We just need to be more vigilant on it’s leaders, wouldn’t you agree?

Really? How? By getting Faisal Gill nominated, and “forcing” people to make and violate their pledge to support all of the Party’s nominees in the ensuing election?

That’s sure a neat trick. I’ve never been able to “force” people to do much of anything, particularly to make a pledge, and then violate it. Gotta get Kopko’s/Stewart’s playbook on that one. Could be useful.

GOP Stalwart - The ilks of Kopko and Gill and all of their friends will stop at nothing to WIN.

I have never heard of controversy like this taking place in the Manassas GOP. Maybe it’s because they have trustworthy people running the committee. I also don’t remember controversy being an issue in Prince William GOP until Kopko got to be chairman.

That presupposes that the Party has a competent Chairman (who was also the 51st District Chairman) who is not attempting to subvert the process to his own ends. This was obvious from the very beginning and I trust that the PWCRC has finally had enough.

The party committee in Prince William has less than 100 actively participating members county wide. The biggest challenge is the low number of active volunteers that participate beyond the required minimum meeting requirement to maintain active membership status.

With a limited number of participants, we lose control of accountability and must rely heavily on integrity. In the 51st District Convention we have had too many issues that question the integrity of local party leadership and by a candidate (GILL) that leadership independently elected to support prior to the delegates endorsement. As a result, we now have a committee that is ineffective at assuring all candidates will receive a fair convention.

Furthermore, PWCRC Party leadership is actively seeking RETRIBUTION against Republican’s who supported former chairman Sean Connaughton, with the support and encouragement of County Chairman Corey Stewart who won in last years special election.

Republican’s in Prince William are fed up, many gave up on the Committee long ago. A few loyal members continue to try and breath life back into it but it isn’t enough. It is time to seek a new foundation to support our candidates before we lose any more Republican candidates who feel they have no alternative but to run as Independents.

We’re setting a bad precedence here folks when Republican’s jump ship to run as Independents and local Republicans refuse to join the Party because they prefer not to sign a pledge requiring them to vote for all Republican’s including the likes of Gill and Stewart. We’re no longer putting our best foot forward as Republicans.

This committee is propagating discrimination against our own moderate Republican base. This discriminatory process is a breeding ground for corruption. I believe we now have proof of that following the 51st convention, and should consider investigating last years Occoquan Convention that was chaired by Faisal Gill who openly supported Mike May prior to the convention. Mike May and Michele McQuigg served as credentials for the 51st Delegate. Ms. McQuigg was the favored candidate in the Clerk of Court race that recently treated Ms. Beauchamp unfairly and leaving her no alternative other than running as an Independent.

RPV needs to work closely with all of their Charters in Northern VA and find a solution that best serves all Republican’s and not the interests of a few. Prince William still has a strong Republican base of on lookers but prompt intervention from RPV is needed to help put a stop the rapid erosion within the Party and to release the mafia style stranglehold tactics of a few.

Unfortunately, the true loser from this event is the Prince William County Republican Party. When several Republicans leave a party sponsored event and state they will vote for a Democrat for the first time in their life is of great concern to me. Both sides of the party should be ashamed of the convention’s outcome. I don’t think we can take for granted that having an ( R) by the name of our candidate in the general election will guarantee victory anymore.