Virginia Republicans Plan Drive-Up 2021 Nominating Convention

LYNCHBURG, VA — Virginia’s Republican Party on Tuesday night agreed to hold a drive-up convention on Saturday, May 8 to select its nominees for governor, lieutenant governor and attorney general in the Nov. 2 general election.

The Republican Party hopes to hold the drive-up convention at Liberty University in Lynchburg. At the convention, Republican delegates selected by their local GOP unit would stay in their cars in parking lots at Liberty University, listening to proceedings on a radio broadcast.

Democrats, on the other hand, have chosen to hold a government-run primary election where all registered voters, whether Democrat, Republican, or independent, are free to vote, under Virginia law. The Democratic Party primary takes place on June 8, with voters allowed to cast their ballots at their local voting precincts.

Along with the statewide offices, every district in the Virginia House of Delegates is up for grabs in the Nov. 2 general election.

In a statement issued Wednesday, Liberty University said it has not agreed to a contract with the state Republican Party to hold the convention on its property. The university said it would consider allowing the convention to be held in its parking lots, "provided that full rental cost for the use was paid."

"If Liberty should reach an agreement for the Virginia GOP to rent off-campus parking areas, Liberty would do likewise on comparable terms if another political party or candidate asked," the university said.

Excess parking in retail centers controlled by Liberty University have been leased in the past for events such as carnivals and circuses and to car dealerships, according to the university.

The Virginia Republican Party’s State Central Committee plans to use ranked-choice voting, which will the chosen delegates to fill out one ballot and list their choices, the Richmond Times-Dispatch reported.

Tuesday was the deadline for the state’s Republican Party to choose a nominating process.

State GOP officials decided to hold a convention to choose its nominees for statewide office in order to have better control on whom the party's nominees will be. The drive-up convention at Liberty University was selected because an in-person gathering of hundreds of delegates at a convention would violate Virginia’s COVID-19 rules.

Currently, 55 percent of Republican voters are undecided on their choice for the GOP nominee for governor, while 49 percent of Democratic voters are undecided, according to a Wason Center for Civic Leadership survey released last Friday.

State Sen. Amanda Chase from Chesterfield is the leader among Republicans with 17 percent of support in the Wason Center survey, followed by former Virginia House Speaker Kirk Cox at 10 percent, businessman Pete Snyder at 6 percent, and Glenn Youngkin at 3 percent.

Former Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe leads Democrats with 26 percent of support, followed by Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax with 12 percent, former Prince William Del. Jennifer Carrol Foy and Richmond Sen. Jennifer McClellan at 4 percent each, and Manassas Del. Lee Carter at 1 percent.

Chase believes a single-location convention hurts her chances to win the nomination.

“I would like the VA GOP State Central Committee to answer a question,” she tweeted during the Tuesday evening meeting. “1,962,430 voters voted for President Trump in Virginia. How are you going to accommodate these people who will want to cast a vote for our statewide candidates?”

Chase, like the other candidates in the Republican race for governor, is a strong supporter of former President Donald Trump.

"I'm bold and outspoken, and people have called me 'Trump in heels,'" Chase told Fox News. "They compare me a lot to Trump because I'm not politically correct."