Thank you!
It was a crazy Saturday, one that last far longer than any of us wanted it to, but probably about as long as we expected it to.
The convention itself had some hiccups, and unfortunately I was the victim of one. After the first vote count, the elections committee had announced I had won one of the three delegate slots. Three of us had reached the threshold to be elected on the first ballot. If the convention had ended there, I would have been happy. But it didn't.
There was a challenge to the the first ballot, which resulted in a hand recount. Despite going into the recount with the highest weighted vote total, I emerged after the recount with the second lowest. The other two candidates again won outright.
Of the remaining delegates, one was a candidate supporting Ron Paul for President - someone who none of the other activists knew, who had done nothing for any of our Republican candidates in the past, and who refused to say whether he would cast his ballot for Mitt Romney as he was required by Virginia law to do. The rest were local activists like me, all of whom had made solid contributions to electing Republicans at the federal, state and local levels for many years. We met together and while I was confident I could have won a majority of the activists present, the fact that the Ron Paul supporter had a solid bloc of supporters who would vote for me, I made up my mind. I decided to take one for the team.
This was a difficult decision, but I believe it was the right one. I announced that I was withdrawing my candidacy and throwing my support to my good friend Geraldine Davie. One of our top volunteers, she's been working hard for Republicans for years and was far more deserving of the opportunity than the other candidate who remained. Thanks to the willingness of my fellow candidates John Martin and Ralph Hubbard, who joined me in withdrawing, Geraldine won on the second ballot. I'm proud we could send her to Tampa to represent us. She has more than earned it.
While this wasn't the best outcome for me personally, it was the best outcome for the Republican party and for Northern Virginia conservatives.
I want to thank all of you who supported me in this race and I look forward to seeing you all again soon. For us activists, the end of one election just means the beginning of another. And we've got primaries just around the corner...
Yours,
