The Republican Party of Virginia ( RPV ) is the Virginia chapter of the Republican Party . It is based at the Richard D. Obenshain Center in Richmond . As of May 2024, it controls all three statewide elected offices and 5 out of 11 U.S. House seats.
130-522: Five Virginians (George Rye, John H. Atkinson, James Farley, Joseph Farley, and Mr. Ashley) attended the first national organizing convention of the Republican Party in Pittsburgh . John Curtiss Underwood , Rye, and H. Carpenter were the state's delegates to the 1856 Republican National Convention . They wanted to cast forty-five votes, three per congressional district and six at-large, but
260-666: A 51–49 majority in the Virginia House of Delegates. In 2018, incumbent Democratic senator Tim Kaine defeated Republican Corey Stewart by a margin of 16% in the 2018 United States Senate election in Virginia . The party also lost three seats in the House of Representatives elections , giving Democrats a 7–4 majority. In 2019, the party lost their majorities in the House of Delegates and State Senate. Democrats gained two seats in
390-580: A January 2021 State Central Committee meeting, Party Chairman Rich Anderson called the Party Headquarters in Richmond a "literal ghetto. Democrats and other Republicans criticized him for the choice of words, while he defended himself by pointing out that “ghetto has nothing to do with race” and that he had only been referring to the building, not the neighborhood." Republican Party (United States) The Republican Party , also known as
520-551: A Virginia and federal legislator as well as twice U.S. Minister to France, and Robert Rives Jr. (1798–1869) would also serve in the Virginia House of Delegates. His distant nephew Alexander Brown wrote books about the early history of Virginia as well as The Cabells and their Kin . Rives graduated from Hampden–Sydney College in 1825 and from the University of Virginia in 1829. Like his father and other family members, Rives operated his plantations using enslaved labor. In
650-566: A broader nationalist message. His election accelerated the Republican Party's shift towards right-wing populism and resulted in decreasing influence among its conservative factions. After the 2016 elections , Republicans maintained their majority in the Senate , the House , and governorships , and wielded newly acquired executive power with Trump's election. The Republican Party controlled 69 of 99 state legislative chambers in 2017,
780-539: A colony for northern workers in Ceredo . The first state convention was held on September 18, 1856, while Underwood was in another state due to threats of violence. William E. Stevenson , a future governor of West Virginia, was indicted for distributing an anti-slavery pamphlet. John C. Frémont received 291 votes in the state with 280 from the northwest. Republicans, such as Cassius Marcellus Clay and Underwood, viewed John Brown 's raid on Harpers Ferry as damaging to
910-421: A decade later. His other brother William C. Rives owned slightly more enslaved people in the county's Frederickville section. Following the war, Judge Rives continued to operate the farms using paid labor until entering the federal judicial service in 1871, as described below. Meanwhile, in addition to his private legal practice, Albemarle County voters elected Rives as one of their (part time) representatives in
1040-558: A large majority of the Democratic Party's upper and middle-class support. McKinley defeated Bryan and returned the presidency to Republican control until the 1912 presidential election . The 1896 realignment cemented the Republicans as the party of big businesses while president Theodore Roosevelt added more small business support by his embrace of trust busting . He handpicked his successor William Howard Taft in
1170-618: A lawyer from Chesterfield County, was elected to fill the balance of Whitbeck's term. The current chairman is former Delegate Rich Anderson , who was elected to a four-year term on August 15, 2020. The State Party Plan specifies the organization of the state party and how candidates will be selected. The 79-member State Central Committee sets the policy and plans for the party between larger State Conventions, which gather at least once every four years. Candidates for elective office can be selected by (1) mass meetings, (2) party canvasses, (3) conventions, or (4) primaries. A mass meeting consists of
1300-448: A meeting where any participants must remain until votes are taken at the end. A party canvass or " firehouse primary " allows participants to arrive anytime during announced polling hours, cast a secret ballot, and then leave. A convention includes a process for selecting delegates, and then only the delegates may vote. Mass meetings, party canvasses and conventions are conducted by party officials and volunteers. Primaries are administered by
1430-730: A more conservative agenda. Prior to the January 6 joint session of the United States Congress to certify Joe Biden 's win, Republican Delegates Dave LaRock (Loudon), Mark Cole (Fauquier), and Ronnie Campbell (R-Lexington) sent a letter to Vice President Mike Pence urging him to nullify Virginia's electoral results. Democratic Speaker of the House Elieen Filler-Corn punished the members by stripping them of their committee assignments. Republican 2021 candidate for Governor Sen. Amanda Chase attended
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#17327831891041560-583: A night landing at the Chesterfield County Airport . They had been returning to Richmond from a campaign appearance. Over one million voters participated in the 2016 Virginia Republican presidential primary . Donald Trump placed first with 35% of the vote, followed by Marco Rubio (32%), Ted Cruz (17%), John Kasich (10%), and Ben Carson (6%). The party held its quadrennial convention in Roanoke and elected 13 at-large delegates to
1690-418: A number of Republicans and conservative thought leaders questioning whether Trump should continue as the party's main figurehead and leader. Despite this, Trump easily won the nomination to be the party's candidate again in the 2024 presidential election . Trump achieved a decisive victory against Democratic nominee Kamala Harris , winning every swing state and the popular vote, while the Republicans held
1820-625: A pardon for his opponent, to remove Duke's disability from seeking office, without charging Rives's usual fee of up to $ 500. President Ulysses S. Grant on February 3, 1871 nominated Rives to the United States District Court for the Western District of Virginia , a new seat authorized by 16 Stat. 403. He was confirmed by the United States Senate on February 6, 1871, and received his commission
1950-544: A reduction of the national debt and federal budget deficit through decreased government spending . The Tea Party movement was also described as a popular constitutional movement composed of a mixture of libertarian , right-wing populist , and conservative activism. The Tea Party movement's electoral success began with Scott Brown 's upset win in the January Senate special election in Massachusetts ;
2080-606: A special election at state party convention later that month. Mullins won the special election at the May 30, 2009, convention, defeating Bill Stanley, the Franklin County chairman. Mullins was re-elected at the party's June 2012 convention. Mullins announced his retirement on November 5, 2014, a day after the Virginia GOP had a strong showing in the 2014 elections. 10th District Republican Committee chairman John Whitbeck
2210-409: A strongly conservative member of the House of Delegates , Jeff Frederick of Prince William County . Frederick, who was then 32 years old, was the fifth party chairman in five years. On April 4, 2009, Frederick was removed from the position by RPV's State Central Committee, in a move backed by most of the senior GOP establishment. Many argued that Frederick's election and later removal was a war within
2340-527: A treaty annexing Hawaii before Cleveland could be inaugurated. Most Republicans supported the proposed annexation, but Cleveland opposed it. In the 1896 presidential election , Republican William McKinley 's platform supported the gold standard and high tariffs, having been the creator and namesake for the McKinley Tariff of 1890. Though having been divided on the issue prior to that year's National Convention , McKinley decided to heavily favor
2470-560: A winner at the end of election day. Voter suppression in the South gave Republican-controlled returning officers enough of a reason to declare that fraud, intimidation and violence had soiled the states' results. They proceeded to throw out enough Democratic votes for Republican Rutherford B. Hayes to be declared the winner. Democrats refused to accept the results and the Electoral Commission made up of members of Congress
2600-483: The 1980 United States presidential election . The Reagan presidency , lasting from 1981 to 1989, constituted what is known as " the Reagan Revolution ". It was seen as a fundamental shift from the stagflation of the 1970s, with the introduction of Reagan's economic policies intended to cut taxes, prioritize government deregulation and shift funding from the domestic sphere into the military to check
2730-497: The 2019 Virginia Senate election , giving them a 21–19 majority. Democrats gained six seats in the 2019 Virginia House of Delegates election , giving them a 55–45 majority. In 2020, Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden defeated incumbent President Donald Trump by 10.11%. Both parties maintained their seats in the 2020 United States House of Representatives elections in Virginia . Incumbent Democratic senator Mark Warner defeated Republican challenger Daniel Gade by 12.1% in
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#17327831891042860-487: The 2020 United States Senate election in Virginia . In 2021 , Republican nominee Glenn Youngkin defeated former governor Terry McAuliffe by a 51%–48.5% margin. The GOP nominees for Lieutenant Governor, Winsome Sears , and Attorney General, Jason Miyares , also won their respective races. This was the first time Republicans won a statewide election in the Commonwealth since 2009 . The party gained seven seats in
2990-466: The 2022 elections confident and with analysts predicting a red wave , but it ultimately underperformed expectations, with voters in swing states and competitive districts joining Democrats in rejecting candidates who had been endorsed by Trump or who had denied the results of the 2020 election. The party won control of the House with a narrow majority, but lost the Senate and several state legislative majorities and governorships. The results led to
3120-546: The Coinage Act of 1873 , as a solution to the depressed American economy in the aftermath of that year's panic . Ahead of the 1880 presidential election , both James G. Blaine and opponent John Sherman failed to win the Republican nomination; each then backed James A. Garfield for president. Garfield won the 1880 presidential election, but was assassinated early in his term . His death helped create support for
3250-635: The Court of International Trade by the time he left office, shifting the court system to the right . Other notable achievements during his presidency included the passing of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act in 2017; the creation of the U.S. Space Force , the first new independent military service since 1947; and the brokering of the Abraham Accords , a series of normalization agreements between Israel and various Arab states . The second half of his term
3380-573: The GOP ( Grand Old Party ), is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States . It emerged as the main political rival of the then-dominant Democratic Party in the 1850s, and the two parties have dominated American politics since then. The Republican Party was founded in 1854 by anti-slavery activists who opposed the Kansas–Nebraska Act , which allowed for
3510-544: The Iraq War . In the 2008 presidential election , Arizona Republican senator John McCain was defeated by Illinois Democratic senator Barack Obama . The Republicans experienced electoral success in the 2010 elections . The 2010 elections coincided with the ascendancy of the Tea Party movement , an anti-Obama protest movement of fiscal conservatives . Members of the movement called for lower taxes , and for
3640-592: The Kansas–Nebraska Act , which repealed the Missouri Compromise and opened the Kansas and Nebraska Territories to slavery and future admission as slave states. They denounced the expansion of slavery as a great evil, but did not call for complete abolition , including in the Southern states. While opposition to the expansion of slavery was the most consequential founding principle of the party, like
3770-537: The Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act , which was passed in 1883; the bill was signed into law by Republican president Chester A. Arthur , who succeeded Garfield. In 1884, Blaine won the Republican presidential nomination, but lost the general election to Democrat Grover Cleveland . Cleveland was the first Democrat to be elected president since James Buchanan. Dissident Republicans, known as Mugwumps , had defected from Blaine due to
3900-470: The Pew Research Center found that social conservatives and free market advocates remained the other two main groups within the party's coalition of support, with all three being roughly equal in number. However, libertarians and libertarian-leaning conservatives increasingly found fault with what they saw as Republicans' restricting of vital civil liberties while corporate welfare and
4030-692: The Redeemer movement gathered apace and the Reconstruction era ended. A brief upturn occurred when William Mahone formed the Readjuster Party , a bi-racial populist coalition of Democrats and Republicans which held its height of power from 1870 to 1883. After the Virginia Constitutional Convention of 1902 , which drafted and promulgated a new constitution which disfranchised almost all African Americans in
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4160-577: The Second New Deal , saying it represented class warfare and socialism . Roosevelt was easily re-elected president in 1936 ; however, as his second term began, the economy declined , strikes soared, and he failed to take control of the Supreme Court and purge the Southern conservatives from the Democratic Party. Republicans made a major comeback in the 1938 House elections . Southern conservatives joined with most Republicans to form
4290-815: The Soviet Union by utilizing deterrence theory . During a visit to then- West Berlin in June 1987, he addressed Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev during a speech at the Berlin Wall , demanding that he " Tear down this wall! ". The remark was later seen as influential in the fall of the wall in 1989, and was retroactively seen as a defining achievement. The Soviet Union was dissolved in 1991 . Following Reagan's presidency, Republican presidential candidates frequently claimed to share Reagan's views and aimed to portray themselves and their policies as heirs to his legacy. Reagan's vice president, George H. W. Bush , won
4420-564: The Thirteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution —which banned slavery, except as punishment for a crime—was ratified in 1865. Following the assassination of Lincoln , Johnson ascended to the presidency. Johnson was vitriolic in his criticisms of the Radical Republicans during a national tour ahead of the 1866 elections . Anti-Johnson Republicans won a two-thirds majority in both chambers of Congress following
4550-675: The Virginia House of Delegates several times, as well as failed to re-elect him numerous times. Albemarle County voters elected him to the Virginia Senate in 1857, and he served one term in that part-time position. Following the American Civil War, Rives became the ninth Rector of the University of Virginia from 1865 to 1866. He was a justice of the Supreme Court of Virginia from 1866 to 1869. Rives
4680-629: The World Trade Organization . Bush lost his re-election bid in 1992 . While there is debate about whether Perot's candidacy cost Bush re-election, Charlie Cook asserted that Perot's messaging carried weight with Republican and conservative voters. In the 1994 elections , the Republican Party, led by House minority whip Newt Gingrich , who campaigned on the " Contract with America ", won majorities in both chambers of Congress, gained 12 governorships, and regained control of 20 state legislatures . The Republican Party won control of
4810-514: The conservative coalition , which dominated domestic issues in Congress until 1964. By the time of World War II , both parties split on foreign policy issues, with the anti-war isolationists dominant in the Republican Party and the interventionists dominant in the Democratic Party. Roosevelt won a third term in 1940 and a fourth in 1944 . Conservatives abolished most of the New Deal during
4940-609: The large-scale corruption present in the Grant administration , with the emerging Stalwart faction defending Grant and the spoils system , and the Half-Breeds advocating reform of the civil service . Republicans who opposed Grant branched off to form the Liberal Republican Party , nominating Horace Greeley in the 1872 presidential election . The Democratic Party attempted to capitalize on this divide in
5070-539: The planter class became alarmed at the threat to the future of slavery in the United States. With the 1860 election of Abraham Lincoln , the first Republican president, the Southern states seceded from the United States. Under the leadership of Lincoln and a Republican Congress, the Republican Party led the fight to defeat the Confederate States in the American Civil War , thereby preserving
5200-407: The 1776 republican values of civic virtue and opposition to aristocracy and corruption. "Republican" has a variety of meanings around the world, and the Republican Party has evolved such that the meanings no longer always align. Alexander Rives Alexander Rives (June 17, 1806 – September 17, 1885) was a Virginia attorney , politician and plantation owner. He served in both houses of
5330-534: The 1830 federal census, he owned one enslaved man, an enslaved woman also between 20 and 30 years old, and a girl in Albemarle County. A decade later, Rives owned 17 enslaved men and boys and 13 enslaved women and girls. In the 1850 federal census, Rives owned 69 slaves in Albemarle County. In the final prewar census, Rives owned 66 slaves in Albemarle County. His brother or nephew Robert Rives Jr. owned 43 slaves in Albemarle County in 1850. and 70 slaves
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5460-518: The 1908 election , but they became enemies as the party split down the middle. Taft defeated Roosevelt for the 1912 nomination . Roosevelt ran on the ticket of his new Progressive Party . He called for social reforms , many of which were later championed by New Deal Democrats in the 1930s. He lost and when most of his supporters returned to the GOP, they found they did not agree with the new conservative economic thinking , leading to an ideological shift to
5590-411: The 1960s era of civil rights legislation, enacted by Democrats, the South became more reliably Republican, and Richard Nixon carried 49 states in the 1972 election , with what he touted as his " silent majority ". The 1980 election of Ronald Reagan realigned national politics, bringing together advocates of free-market economics, social conservatives , and Cold War foreign policy hawks under
5720-438: The 20th century, inaugurating an era of competitive elections between the two major parties. Republicans are the minority in both the Virginia House of Delegates and Senate, and five of the state's eleven U.S. House seats are held by Republicans. As of 2024, they hold the offices of Governor, Lieutenant Governor and Attorney General. Both of Virginia's U.S. Senate seats have been held by Democrats since 2009 . John Warner
5850-538: The Democrats, whom they saw as the party of bloated, secular, and liberal government. This period saw the rise of "pro-government conservatives"—a core part of the Bush's base—a considerable group of the Republicans who advocated for increased government spending and greater regulations covering both the economy and people's personal lives, as well as for an activist and interventionist foreign policy. Survey groups such as
5980-556: The GOP and he proved unable to shift the party to a more moderate position. Historians cite the 1964 presidential election and its respective National Convention as a significant shift, which saw the conservative wing, helmed by Arizona senator Barry Goldwater , battle liberal New York governor Nelson Rockefeller and his eponymous Rockefeller Republican faction for the nomination. With Goldwater poised to win, Rockefeller, urged to mobilize his liberal faction, retorted, "You're looking at it, buddy. I'm all that's left." Following
6110-406: The GOP by co-nominating Greeley under their party banner. Greeley's positions proved inconsistent with the Liberal Republican Party that nominated him, with Greeley supporting high tariffs despite the party's opposition. Grant was easily re-elected. The 1876 presidential election saw a contentious conclusion as both parties claimed victory despite three southern states not officially declaring
6240-597: The GOP cooperated with Truman's Cold War foreign policy, funded the Marshall Plan and supported NATO , despite the continued isolationism of the Old Right. Eisenhower had defeated conservative leader senator Robert A. Taft for the 1952 Republican presidential nomination , but conservatives dominated the domestic policies of the Eisenhower administration . Voters liked Eisenhower much more than they liked
6370-520: The House and retook control of the Senate, thus delivering a Republican trifecta . Trump significantly improved his vote share among almost all demographics nationwide, particularly among Hispanic voters, in a working class coalition described as the most racially diverse for a Republican presidential candidate in decades. As of 2024, the GOP holds a majority in the U.S. House of Representatives . It also holds 27 state governorships , 28 state legislatures , and 23 state government trifectas . Six of
6500-484: The House of Delegates to have a majority of 52–48, with Todd Gilbert as the new Speaker of the House. These races were seen as a crucial bellwether for the 2022 midterms , as they took place during a period of low approval for President Joe Biden . In 2023, the party lost their majority again in the House of Delegates and failed to win a majority in the State Senate, blocking Governor Youngkin's abilities to pass
6630-504: The House of Representatives for the first time in 40 years , and won a majority of U.S. House seats in the South for the first time since Reconstruction. However, most voters had not heard of the Contract and the Republican victory was attributed to traditional mid-term anti-incumbent voting and Republicans becoming the majority party in the South for the first time since Reconstruction, winning many former Southern Democrats . Gingrich
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#17327831891046760-583: The November 2007 election should be selected by primary. The Republicans then sued the State Board of Elections demanding a closed primary be held, with taxpayer funding of a mechanism to exclude voters who had participated in past Democratic primaries. The Federal District Court dismissed the suit on standing and ripeness grounds. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit reversed and sent
6890-536: The Republican House's legislative agenda if he were to serve as speaker. Illinois representative Dennis Hastert was promoted to speaker in Livingston's place, serving in that position until 2007. Republican George W. Bush won the 2000 and 2004 presidential elections . He campaigned as a " compassionate conservative " in 2000, wanting to better appeal to immigrants and minority voters. The goal
7020-494: The Republican National Convention, 10 of which pledged to support Ted Cruz in the event of a contested convention. In the general election, Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton defeated Donald Trump 50% to 45%. In the 2016 United States House of Representatives elections in Virginia , the Republicans lost one seat but maintained a 7–4 majority in their representative delegation. In 2017,
7150-421: The Republican Party lost seven seats in the House , but still retained control of that chamber. However, Republicans were unable to gain control of the Senate , continuing their minority status with a net loss of two seats. In the aftermath of the loss, some prominent Republicans spoke out against their own party. A 2012 election post-mortem by the Republican Party concluded that the party needed to do more on
7280-617: The Republican Party for President." However, there was no way to enforce the pledge, and the proposal caused vocal public opposition. At a March 20, 2014, meeting, John Ferguson defeated Leslie Williams to become Chairman of the Campbell County Republican Committee. Williams unsuccessfully challenged the meeting before the county committee and the Fifth Congressional District Republican Committee. However,
7410-634: The Republican Party had greatly shifted towards illiberalism following the election of Trump, and research conducted by the V-Dem Institute concluded that the party was more similar to Europe's most right-wing parties such as Law and Justice in Poland or Fidesz in Hungary. In 2022 and 2023, Supreme Court justices appointed by Trump proved decisive in landmark decisions on gun rights , abortion , and affirmative action . The party went into
7540-401: The Republican Party's first National Convention in 1856 , the party adopted a national platform emphasizing opposition to the expansion of slavery into the free territories. Although Republican nominee John C. Frémont lost that year's presidential election to Democrat James Buchanan , Buchanan managed to win only four of the fourteen northern states. Despite the loss of the presidency and
7670-855: The Republican banner. Since 2009, the party has faced significant factionalism within its own ranks and has shifted towards right-wing populism . In the 21st century, the Republican Party receives its strongest support from rural voters , evangelical Christians , men , senior citizens , and voters without college degrees . On economic issues, the party has maintained a pro-business attitude since its inception. It supports low taxes and deregulation while opposing socialism , labor unions and single-payer healthcare . The populist faction supports economic protectionism , including tariffs . On social issues, it advocates for restricting abortion , discouraging and often prohibiting recreational drug use , promoting gun ownership and easing gun restrictions , and opposing transgender rights . In foreign policy,
7800-497: The Republicans lost five seats, though whether it was due to poor messaging or Clinton's popularity providing a coattail effect is debated. Gingrich was ousted from party power due to the performance, ultimately deciding to resign from Congress altogether. For a short time afterward, it appeared Louisiana representative Bob Livingston would become his successor; Livingston, however, stepped down from consideration and resigned from Congress after damaging reports of affairs threatened
7930-503: The Republicans struck a deal with Clinton on the Balanced Budget Act of 1997 , which included tax cuts, the Republican House majority had difficulty convening on a new agenda ahead of the 1998 elections . During the ongoing impeachment of Bill Clinton in 1998, Gingrich decided to make Clinton's misconduct the party message heading into the elections, believing it would add to their majority. The strategy proved mistaken and
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#17327831891048060-500: The Senate on June 6, 2001, when Vermont Republican senator Jim Jeffords switched his party affiliation to Democrat. The Republicans regained the Senate majority in the 2002 elections , helped by Bush's surge in popularity following the September 11 attacks , and Republican majorities in the House and Senate were held until the Democrats regained control of both chambers in the 2006 elections , largely due to increasing opposition to
8190-473: The Senate voted to acquit him. Trump lost the 2020 presidential election to Democrat Joe Biden . He refused to concede the race, claiming widespread electoral fraud and attempting to overturn the results . On January 6, 2021, the United States Capitol was attacked by Trump supporters following a rally at which Trump spoke. After the attack, the House impeached Trump for a second time on
8320-408: The Senate. Over the course of his presidency, Trump appointed three justices to the Supreme Court : Neil Gorsuch , Brett Kavanaugh , and Amy Coney Barrett . It was the most Supreme Court appointments for any president in a single term since Richard Nixon . Trump appointed 260 judges in total, creating overall Republican-appointed majorities on every branch of the federal judiciary except for
8450-562: The State Board of Elections at all established polling places. Because Virginia does not have party registrations, participation in primaries are open to any register voter regardless of party. However, on June 15, 2006, the Plan was amended to redefine a primary: "Primary" is as defined in and subject to the Election Laws of the Commonwealth of Virginia, except to the extent that any provisions of such laws conflict with this Plan, infringe
8580-612: The State Central Committee overturned the vote on the grounds that schoolteachers and public employees participated in the meeting and that they must have been Democrats. In response, Ferguson and the other party officials that were elected filed a lawsuit to block a new mass meeting to fill the seats. The party headquarters building is named the Richard D. Obenshain Center in memory of Richard D. Obenshain (1936–1978),
8710-406: The State Central Committee voted to choose its candidates for Governor, Lieutenant Governor, and Attorney General by convention, not by a primary. Candidate Sen. Amanda Chase threatened to run as an independent, but quickly backtracked and said she would reluctantly participate in a convention. The State Central Committee has held several meetings to reconsider the decision to hold a convention. At
8840-565: The State Party Chairman who beginning in 1972, helped lead the party's renaissance in Virginia following 95 years of virtual control by the State's Democratic Party . In 1978, "Dick" Obenshain had won the party's nomination to run for the U.S. Senate to replace retiring Senator William Scott when the 42-year-old candidate and two others were killed in an airplane crash of a twin-engine aircraft on August 2, 1978, while attempting
8970-423: The Union and abolishing slavery . After the war, the party largely dominated national politics until the Great Depression in the 1930s, when it lost its congressional majorities and the Democrats' New Deal programs proved popular. Dwight D. Eisenhower 's election in 1952 was a rare break between Democratic presidents and he presided over a period of increased economic prosperity after World War II . Following
9100-509: The Virginia General Assembly, as a justice of the Supreme Court of Virginia and as a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Western District of Virginia . Born on June 17, 1806, in Oak Ridge , Nelson County , Virginia to the former Margaret (Peggy) Cabell (c. 1770–1815) and her husband Robert Rives (1764–1845), Rives was related to the First Families of Virginia through his mother and later wife. His father Robert Rives of Sussex County had served in
9230-426: The Whig Party it replaced, Republicans also called for economic and social modernization . At the first public meeting of the anti-Nebraska movement on March 20, 1854, at the Little White Schoolhouse in Ripon, Wisconsin , the name "Republican" was proposed as the name of the party. The name was partly chosen to pay homage to Thomas Jefferson 's Democratic-Republican Party . The first official party convention
9360-486: The case back for a trial on its merits. The District Court then ruled that the rule forcing a party to accept the choice of its incumbent office holder of an open primary was unconstitutional. The state could continue to hold open primaries if a party opted for a primary instead of a mass meeting, party canvass, or convention to choose its nominees. On October 1, 2007, the Fourth Circuit affirmed this holding, which largely left Virginia's primary system intact, striking down only
9490-583: The charge of incitement of insurrection , making him the only federal officeholder to be impeached twice. Trump left office on January 20, 2021. His impeachment trial continued into the early weeks of the Biden presidency , and he was acquitted on February 13, 2021 . Since the 2020 election, election denial has become increasingly mainstream in the party, with the majority of 2022 Republican candidates being election deniers. The party also made efforts to restrict voting based on false claims of fraud. By 2020,
9620-481: The commonwealth, the Republican Party ceased to be an effective political party in Virginia. The party reached its nadir of representation in the General Assembly, reaching handfuls of representation in either chamber and in the U.S. House until after 1964. Historically, from the late 19th into the mid-20th centuries, the 9th and 2nd congressional districts were the friendliest terrain for Republicans in
9750-497: The convention only allotted them nine votes. They refused to vote in protest on both ballots. The delegation initially supported David Wilmot for the vice-presidential nomination, but later supported William L. Dayton . Underwood formed the party's newspaper in Wheeling , the first in any of the border states using financial aid from William H. Seward . Underwood also received backing from Horace Greeley and Eli Thayer to form
9880-402: The convention to be generous towards the voting rights of former Confederates while Hunnicutt supported disenfranchisement. The constitution written by the convention disfranchised a large number of Confederates and required loyalty oaths for local and state officials. John Schofield opposed the loyalty oath as it would not allow for enough men to fill offices. Schofield removed Pierpont, who
10010-451: The convention. At the convention, the party nominations committee ruled that Haley did not qualify to seek the office, and Whitbeck was re-elected unopposed to a full four-year term. Whitbeck resigned from his position on July 21, 2018, due to differences with Corey Stewart , the party's nominee for U.S. Senate in that year's race for U.S. Senate . In September 2018, Jack R. Wilson, the party's 4th Congressional District Chairman since 2007 and
10140-626: The corruption which had plagued his political career. Republican Benjamin Harrison defeated Cleveland in the 1888 election . During his presidency, Harrison signed the Dependent and Disability Pension Act , which established pensions for all veterans of the Union who had served for more than 90 days and were unable to perform manual labor. Following his loss to Cleveland in the 1892 presidential election , Harrison unsuccessfully attempted to pass
10270-612: The counselor to President George W. Bush . Mike Thomas served as interim chairman until July 21 when former Lieutenant Governor of Virginia John H. Hager was elected chairman. On April 9, 2007, the RPV named Fred Malek to serve as the Finance Chairman and Lisa Gable to serve as the Finance Committee Co-Chair. On May 31, 2008, Hager was defeated in his bid for re-election at a statewide GOP convention by
10400-560: The decade produced an unprecedented prosperity until the Wall Street Crash of 1929 heralded the Great Depression. The New Deal coalition forged by Democratic president Franklin D. Roosevelt controlled American politics for most of the next three decades, excluding the presidency of Republican Dwight D. Eisenhower in the 1950s. After Roosevelt took office in 1933, New Deal legislation sailed through Congress and
10530-528: The economy moved sharply upward from its nadir in early 1933. The 1934 elections left the GOP with only 25 senators against 71 Democrats. The House likewise had overwhelming Democratic majorities. The Republican Party factionalized into a majority Old Right , based predominantly in the Midwest , and a liberal wing based in the Northeast that supported much of the New Deal. The Old Right sharply attacked
10660-417: The elections, which helped lead the way toward his impeachment and near ouster from office in 1868, the same year Ulysses S. Grant was elected as the next Republican president . Grant was a Radical Republican, which created some division within the party. Massachusetts senator Charles Sumner and Illinois senator Lyman Trumbull opposed most of his Reconstructionist policies. Others took issue with
10790-531: The electoral chances of the party. Edward McPherson granted printing contracts to Hunnicutt's Richmond New Nation , but Hunnicutt complained that a majority of the contracts were given to the Alexandria Virginia State Journal . One-third of the delegates to the constitutional convention were black. Underwood, a Radical who was friends with Greeley, was selected as president. Elihu B. Washburne and Schuyler Colfax advocated for
10920-522: The gold standard over free silver in his campaign messaging, but promised to continue bimetallism to ward off continued skepticism over the gold standard, which had lingered since the Panic of 1893 . Democrat William Jennings Bryan proved to be a devoted adherent to the free silver movement, which cost Bryan the support of Democratic institutions such as Tammany Hall , the New York World and
11050-479: The lack of a majority in the U.S. Congress , Republicans were able to orchestrate a Republican speaker of the House of Representatives , which went to Nathaniel P. Banks . Historian James M. McPherson writes regarding Banks' speakership that "if any one moment marked the birth of the Republican party, this was it." The Republicans were eager for the 1860 elections . Former Illinois U.S. representative Abraham Lincoln spent several years building support within
11180-471: The more moderate Thomas M. Davis were seeking the 2008 Republican candidate for U.S. Senate . However, two weeks following the decision that the candidate will be selected at a convention instead of a primary, Davis announced that he would not seek the nomination. Virginia does not provide for voters to register by party. Virginia law requires "open" primaries that are not restricted based on party registration: All persons qualified to vote... may vote at
11310-419: The most it had held in history. The Party also held 33 governorships, the most it had held since 1922. The party had total control of government in 25 states; it had not held total control of this many states since 1952. The opposing Democratic Party held full control of only five states in 2017. In the 2018 elections , Republicans lost control of the House of Representatives, but strengthened their hold on
11440-467: The national debt hiked considerably under Bush's tenure. In contrast, some social conservatives expressed dissatisfaction with the party's support for economic policies that conflicted with their moral values. The Republican Party lost its Senate majority in 2001 when the Senate became split evenly; nevertheless, the Republicans maintained control of the Senate due to the tie-breaking vote of Bush's vice president, Dick Cheney . Democrats gained control of
11570-406: The national level to attract votes from minorities and young voters. In March 2013, Republican National Committee chairman Reince Priebus issued a report on the party's electoral failures in 2012, calling on Republicans to reinvent themselves and officially endorse immigration reform. He proposed 219 reforms, including a $ 10 million marketing campaign to reach women, minorities, and gay people;
11700-422: The nine current U.S. Supreme Court justices were appointed by Republican presidents. Its most recent presidential nominee is Donald Trump , who served as the 45th president of the United States and was the party's candidate again in the 2024 presidential election . There have been 19 Republican presidents, the most from any one political party. The Republican Party's founding members chose its name as homage to
11830-540: The party between insiders and outsiders, or grassroots versus establishment Republicans. After his removal, Frederick considered seeking the chairman job again at the party's May 2009 convention, but decided against it. Pat Mullins, who was then the chairman of the Louisa County party unit and formerly the chairman of the Fairfax County party unit, was selected on May 2, 2009, to serve in the interim before
11960-549: The party establishment is interventionist, while the populist faction supports isolationism and in some cases non-interventionism . In 1854, the Republican Party was founded in the Northern United States by forces opposed to the expansion of slavery , ex- Whigs , and ex- Free Soilers . The Republican Party quickly became the principal opposition to the dominant Democratic Party and the briefly popular Know Nothing Party. The party grew out of opposition to
12090-400: The party nominated Ed Gillespie for governor, Jill Vogel for lieutenant governor, and John Adams for attorney general via an open primary. All three lost to their Democratic opponents. Gillespie lost to Ralph Northam by a margin of 8.93%. The Republican Party lost 15 seats in the 2017 Virginia House of Delegates election . This resulted in the Republicans going from a 66–34 majority to
12220-538: The party's chairman in 2004. Following Senator George Allen's unsuccessful 2006 reelection bid, Griffin submitted her resignation as Chairman effective November 15, 2006. Her brother, Mark Obenshain , is a State Senator from Harrisonburg in the Virginia General Assembly . Both are the children of the late Richard D. Obenshain . Ed Gillespie was elected as the new Chairman of the RPV on December 2, 2006. He resigned on June 13, 2007, to become
12350-615: The party, campaigning heavily for Frémont in 1856 and making a bid for the Senate in 1858 , losing to Democrat Stephen A. Douglas but gaining national attention from the Lincoln–Douglas debates it produced. At the 1860 Republican National Convention , Lincoln consolidated support among opponents of New York U.S. senator William H. Seward , a fierce abolitionist who some Republicans feared would be too radical for crucial states such as Pennsylvania and Indiana , as well as those who disapproved of his support for Irish immigrants. Lincoln
12480-527: The party. Almost all of Abraham Lincoln 's support in the 1860 election came from around Wheeling. The Republicans supported Francis Harrison Pierpont 's unionist Virginia government during the Civil War. In June 1865, the Radical Republicans , which included many of the party's founders, held a convention in Alexandria which supported black suffrage. A rival Republican convention opposed to Pierpont
12610-695: The passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Voting Rights Act of 1965 , the southern states became more reliably Republican in presidential politics, while northeastern states became more reliably Democratic. The GOP went on to control the White House from 1969 to 1977 under 37th president Richard Nixon , and when he resigned in 1974 due to the Watergate scandal , Gerald Ford became the 38th president, serving until 1977. Ronald Reagan defeated incumbent Democratic President Jimmy Carter in
12740-690: The patriot army during the final Yorktown campaign, then became a commission merchant (first operating as Robert Rives and Company and later as Brown, Rives and Company), with Thomas Jefferson as one of his clients. He built a plantation, Oak Hill, in Nelson County in 1802, where he would bury his wife, and later be buried. On his death in 1845, the personal estate of Rives Sr. would be valued at $ 100,000 (~$ 3.11 million in 2023) and included lands in Albemarle , Buckingham , Campbell and Nelson Counties. His elder brother William C. Rives would become
12870-506: The petitioners to the Commonwealth. However, in Ex parte Virginia the court confirmed federal authority to enforce African Americans' rights to serve on juries, and in Strauder v. West Virginia the court declared states could not limit jury service to white men. Over 100 years later, the Supreme Court ruled that even the use of peremptory challenges where exclusion was made on the basis of race
13000-454: The potential extension of slavery to the western territories. The party supported classical liberalism and economic reform geared to industry, supporting investments in manufacturing, railroads, and banking. The party was successful in the North, and by 1858, it had enlisted most former Whigs and former Free Soilers to form majorities in almost every northern state. White Southerners of
13130-501: The presidency in a landslide in the 1988 election . However, his term was characterized by division within the Republican Party. Bush's vision of economic liberalization and international cooperation with foreign nations saw the negotiation and, during the presidency of Democrat Bill Clinton in the 1990s, the signing of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and the conceptual beginnings of
13260-502: The primary. No person shall vote for the candidates of more than one party. In 2004, the Republican Party amended the State Party Plan to attempt to restrict participation in primaries to exclude voters who had voted in a Democratic primary after March 1, 2004, or in the last five years, whichever is more recent. In August 2004, Stephen Martin , an incumbent State Senator, designated that the Republican candidate for his seat in
13390-608: The rally prior to the January 6 storming of the United States Capitol . After the riot that left one person dead, party chairman Rich Anderson said in a statement "I and Virginia Republicans across our great Commonwealth condemn these despicable acts without reservation or hesitation." Democratic Party of Virginia Chairwoman Susan Swecker quickly condemned the Republican officials, saying "The Republican Party has made their disdain for democracy clear, and every elected GOP official has been complicit." In December 2020,
13520-673: The request of Botts, had the Second Reconstruction Act conduct voting by ballot, which Botts believed would increase white support for Republicans. Wilson unsuccessfully attempted to have the act structured to result in Pierpont administering the constitutional convention election rather than the military commander. Hunnicutt's supporters initially controlled the 1868 constitutional convention and called for property confiscations . The Pierpont and Botts factions, and Horace Greeley feared that Hunnicutt's faction would ruin
13650-487: The right in the Republican Party. The Republicans returned to the presidency in the 1920s, winning on platforms of normalcy , business-oriented efficiency, and high tariffs. The national party platform avoided mention of prohibition, instead issuing a vague commitment to law and order . Warren G. Harding died in 1923 and Calvin Coolidge easily defeated the splintered opposition in 1924. The pro-business policies of
13780-494: The right to freedom of association, or are otherwise invalid. At the same time, the Plan was amended to require participants in any of the candidate selection methods to "express in open meeting either orally or in writing as may be required their intent to support all [Republican] nominees for public office in the ensuing election". The candidate selection process has been criticized as favoring "party insiders" and disfavoring moderate candidates. For example, both Jim Gilmore and
13910-456: The rule allowing an incumbent officeholder to choose an open primary over the objection of his or her party. The Republican State Central Committee dropped plans to require voters to sign a loyalty oath before voting in the February 2008 Presidential Primary. The party had proposed to require each voter to sign a pledge stating "I, the undersigned, pledge that I intend to support the nominee of
14040-806: The same day. His service terminated on August 1, 1882, when he retired. In 1878, Judge Rives took the then-controversial view that the exclusion of blacks from jury service in Virginia state courts was a violation of the Equal Protection rights of two criminal defendants, granting their petitions for habeas corpus relief. The Virginia General Assembly passed a resolution denouncing the Reynolds decision, and demanding an appeal. The Supreme Court agreed in principle with Rives, in three decisions issued on March 1, 1880, but overruled his reasoning in Virginia v. Rives , ordering him to return jurisdiction over
14170-464: The seat had been held for decades by Democrat Ted Kennedy . In November, Republicans recaptured control of the House , increased their number of seats in the Senate , and gained a majority of governorships . The Tea Party would go on to strongly influence the Republican Party, in part due to the replacement of establishment Republicans with Tea Party-style Republicans. When Obama was re-elected president in 2012 , defeating Republican Mitt Romney ,
14300-590: The secession of what became the state of West Virginia . Republicans Francis Harrison Pierpont and Daniel Polsley were respectively elected the governor and lieutenant governor of the Restored Government, with Pierpont eventually taking power as the de facto governor of Virginia after the previous Democratic governor William Smith was removed from office and arrested. Two more Republicans would hold office for governor, Henry H. Wells and Gilbert Carlton Walker . Republican fortunes turned downward as
14430-519: The setting of a shorter, more controlled primary season; and the creation of better data collection facilities. Following the 2014 elections , the Republican Party took control of the Senate by gaining nine seats. With 247 seats in the House and 54 seats in the Senate, the Republicans ultimately achieved their largest majority in the Congress since the 71st Congress in 1929. In the 2016 presidential election , Republican nominee Donald Trump defeated Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton . The result
14560-410: The state (and some of the friendliest in the former Confederacy), encompassing areas which border West Virginia. Virginia Republicans managed to help Herbert Hoover and Charles Curtis win the 1928 election but would only regain their statewide competitiveness after Dwight D. Eisenhower carried the state in 1952. Linwood Holton would be elected in 1969 as the first Republican governor of Virginia in
14690-477: The values of republicanism promoted by Democratic-Republican Party, which its founder, Thomas Jefferson, called the "Republican Party". The idea for the name came from an editorial by the party's leading publicist, Horace Greeley, who called for "some simple name like 'Republican' [that] would more fitly designate those who had united to restore the Union to its true mission of champion and promulgator of Liberty rather than propagandist of slavery". The name reflects
14820-475: The war, but they did not attempt to do away with Social Security or the agencies that regulated business. Historian George H. Nash argues: Unlike the "moderate", internationalist, largely eastern bloc of Republicans who accepted (or at least acquiesced in) some of the "Roosevelt Revolution" and the essential premises of President Harry S. Truman 's foreign policy, the Republican Right at heart
14950-548: Was a zealous radical. Gingrich's strategy of " constitutional hardball " resulted in increasing political polarization . The Republicans maintained their majority for the first time since 1928 despite Bob Dole losing handily to Clinton in the presidential election . However, Gingrich's national profile proved a detriment to the Republican Congress, which enjoyed majority approval among voters in spite of Gingrich's relative unpopularity. After Gingrich and
15080-475: Was appealing to the Radicals to aid in his election, from the governorship stating that his term had expired under the current constitution. Schofield sought a moderate and initially offered the position to Alexander Rives , but he declined and Henry H. Wells was appointed instead. Wells received the Republican gubernatorial nomination against other nominees, including Hunnicutt, but the loyalty oath requirement
15210-415: Was counterrevolutionary. Anti-collectivist, anti-Communist , anti-New Deal, passionately committed to limited government , free market economics , and congressional (as opposed to executive) prerogatives, the G.O.P. conservatives were obliged from the start to wage a constant two-front war: against liberal Democrats from without and "me-too" Republicans from within. After 1945, the internationalist wing of
15340-426: Was elected on January 24, 2015, by the party's State Central Committee to serve out the remainder of Mullins's term. Whitbeck faced a challenge for the chairmanship for the 2016 election at the party's state convention from Vince Haley, who unsuccessfully ran for the Republican nomination for state senate in the 12th state Senate district in 2015. Haley withdrew his candidacy in early 2016, then tried to re-enter before
15470-515: Was elected president in the general election . This election result helped kickstart the American Civil War , which lasted from 1861 until 1865. The 1864 presidential election united War Democrats with the GOP in support of Lincoln and Tennessee Democratic senator Andrew Johnson , who ran for president and vice president on the National Union Party ticket; Lincoln was re-elected. Under Republican congressional leadership,
15600-592: Was established to decide who would be awarded the states' electors. After the Commission voted along party lines in Hayes' favor, Democrats threatened to delay the counting of electoral votes indefinitely so no president would be inaugurated on March 4. This resulted in the Compromise of 1877 and Hayes finally became president. Hayes doubled down on the gold standard , which had been signed into law by Grant with
15730-564: Was held in May 1866, by former Whigs under the leadership of John Botts , and formed the Union Republican Party. The convention passed resolutions criticizing Pierpont's government, supporting disenfranchising Confederates, and supporting qualified black suffrage. James W. Hunnicutt , who found most of his support among black people and the Union League , also vied for leadership of the party. Senator Henry Wilson , at
15860-537: Was held on July 6, 1854, in Jackson, Michigan . The party emerged from the great political realignment of the mid-1850s, united in pro-capitalist stances with members often valuing Radicalism . The realignment was powerful because it forced voters to switch parties, as typified by the rise and fall of the Know Nothing Party , the rise of the Republican Party and the splits in the Democratic Party. At
15990-476: Was increasingly controversial, as he implemented a family separation policy for migrants , deployed federal law enforcement forces in response to racial protests and reacted slowly to the COVID-19 pandemic before clashing with health officials over testing and treatment. Trump was impeached by the House of Representatives in 2019 on charges of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. On February 5, 2020,
16120-603: Was initially a Democrat , but like his brother William C. Rives, opposed the sub-treasury policy of President Martin Van Buren . Thus, Rives joined the Whig party in 1844. In 1870, Rives ran for the United States House of Representatives as a Republican , but lost to Richard Thomas Walker Duke . Duke's son later said that Rives "had 'ratted' and became a ' scalawag ' republican." Nonetheless, Rives had obtained
16250-399: Was made speaker, and within the first 100 days of the Republican majority, every proposition featured in the Contract was passed, with the exception of term limits for members of Congress. One key to Gingrich's success in 1994 was nationalizing the election, which in turn led to his becoming a national figure during the 1996 House elections , with many Democratic leaders proclaiming Gingrich
16380-533: Was maintained despite another attempt by Schofield. Schofield and Congress refused to finance the elections. The Radicals supported Wells while the conservatives and moderates supported Gilbert Carlton Walker , who won the election. Virginia Republicans were active in fighting for the Union side in the American Civil War and helped lead the formation of the Restored Government of Virginia as well as
16510-548: Was the last Republican to represent Virginia in the U.S. Senate. First elected in 1978 , Warner opted to retire instead of seeking a sixth term. Former Governor Jim Gilmore ran as the Republican nominee in the 2008 election and was subsequently defeated by Democratic challenger Mark Warner who has held the seat since. Out of the 11 seats Virginia is apportioned in the U.S. House of Representatives , five are held by Republicans: Kate Obenshain Griffin of Winchester became
16640-454: Was to prioritize drug rehabilitation programs and aid for prisoner reentry into society, a move intended to capitalize on President Clinton's tougher crime initiatives such as his administration's 1994 crime bill . The platform failed to gain much traction among members of the party during his presidency. The Republican Party remained fairly cohesive for much of the 2000s, as both strong economic libertarians and social conservatives opposed
16770-679: Was unconstitutional, in Batson . Rives lived in Charlottesville until 1833; then at "Carlton" on Monticello until 1873, and spent his final years at "Eastbourne Terrace" in Charlottesville. > Rives died on September 17, 1885, in Charlottesville , Virginia. He was interred beside his wife and namesake son in Monticello Memorial Park, Albemarle County, Virginia. Some of Rives' papers before 1875 are held by
16900-544: Was unexpected; polls leading up to the election showed Clinton leading the race. Trump's victory was fueled by narrow victories in three states— Michigan , Pennsylvania , and Wisconsin —that had been part of the Democratic blue wall for decades. It was attributed to strong support amongst working-class white voters, who felt dismissed and disrespected by the political establishment. Trump became popular with them by abandoning Republican establishment orthodoxy in favor of
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