State law and the Republican Party of Virginia allow parties to use a variety of means of selecting nominees.
We have chosen to select many of our nominees this year through the state run primary on June 20. Under state law, candidates seeking nomination by primary have an April 6 deadline to file with their legislative district committee chair or, in the case of county supervisor candidates, with the county party chair, the following: petitions signed by voters, a declaration of candidacy, and a receipt from the Finance Dept. for their primary filing fee.
This method is being used in Senate districts 29, 30 and 33, House districts 19, 21, 22 and 23, and for the supervisor candidates for the Brentsville, Coles, and Neabsco districts, and for the Chair at-large position. If a candidate in these races seeks your signature on a petition, please give it. It gets them on the ballot and does not represent a promise of your vote. Voters will go to their usual polling place and will be offered the choice whether to vote in the Republican primary or that of the Democrats, which will be at the same time and place.
Petition signatures are not required for any of the party-run processes described below.
Others will be selected through mass meetings, where any registered voter willing to sign a statement of intent to support our nominees may attend and vote. This method is being employed for House districts 24 and 25 and for supervisor candidates for the Gainesville, Occoquan, Potomac and Woodbridge magisterial districts. The calls to those meetings are posted on pwcgop.gop along with filing forms for candidates. The calls specify the candidate filing deadlines. If there are less than 2 candidates for a position who file by the specified deadlines, these meetings will be cancelled.
In the case of the constitutional offices (Clerk of Court, Commonwealth Attorney and Sheriff), our nominees will be chosen by delegates to a May 20 convention at Osbourn Park High School. Manassas City and Manassas Park voters may also participate. Candidates have until 5 p.m. on April 6 to file their forms (also on the website). Those wanting to be delegates to the convention must file a form by April 14, which is also on our website. If none of these races are contested, the convention may be cancelled.
Finally in one House race, that in district 20, the legislative district committee plans to hold a firehouse primary (formally known as a canvass). We await details from that committee’s chair, Sharon Ashurst. In a firehouse primary, voters come to advertised locations between announced hours to vote for their preferred candidate. There is no meeting.
State law does not provide for parties to nominate a single candidate for a school board position. Nor does it do so for the three seats on the Soil and Water Conservation Board. Candidates have until June 20 to submit 125 signatures to run. The Prince William County Republican Committee, however, will consider endorsing candidates in school board races at our April 24 meeting.