Sterling Friends Win Election to GOP State Chair, National Committee Positions

Long time friends of Eugene Delgaudio and Sterling won contests this past Saturday at the Virginia Republican Party State Convention.

John Whitbeck is from Loudoun and has been supported by Sterling and endorsed by Eugene Delgaudio in his rise to the Chairmanship and won re-election to be State Chairman of the Republican Party.

Morton Blackwell has been supported and a friend of Sterling and Eugene Delgaudio for many years and was re-elected in a contest getting 85 per cent of the vote for GOP National Committeeman.

Starting in January and February with the recruitment of delegates for the state convention and ending with the mobilization of delegates from Sterling and Loudoun, Sterling's new friend and pro-family stalwart Cynthia Dunbar as GOP National Committewoman.

The close vote statewide and for Sterling and Loudoun held for 2 ballots over several hours. And the role the Loudoun bus, full of Sterling and Loudoun delegates, made in the difference in the contest in favor of Dunbar. Loudoun, like most other units was decided by 1 vote with Dunbar getting a majority over 50 per cent in several other units like Loudoun.

Report from RACHEL CISTO dnronline.com:

Convention attendees selected the Old Dominion's representatives to the Republican National Committee.

Party chairman John Whitbeck was re-elected unopposed after his original challenger, Vince Haley, withdrew from the race. According to the party rules, Haley was not allowed to resubmit his name for contention.

National Committeeman Morton Blackwell handily defeated his opponent, Michael Nelson, to be re-elected.

Two women stepped up after former National Committeewoman Kathy Hayden decided not to run for re-election.

Suzanne Obenshain, wife of Sen. Mark Obenshain, R-Rockingham, challenged Lynchburg lawyer Cynthia Dunbar for the open seat on the RNC.

Obenshain touted her experience as a grassroots Republican organizer. "I consider myself a Reagan conservative, and I've been applying these same principles in the Shenandoah Valley for the last 35 years," she said. "I want to be the grassroots voice for the Virginia Republican party."

Meanwhile, Dunbar used her time at the podium to discuss what direction she thought the party should go in.

"I am >saddened that the GOP elite are content selecting candidates who are more concerned with seeking the favor of man than the favor of god," she said, "and who are more concerned with winning elections than with saving our nation."

The convention needed to vote twice for committeewoman because a third candidate, Audrey Dutton, was listed on the first ballot, and no candidate received the required 50 percent of the vote.

After the second vote, Dunbar won the office, with the official weighted tally giving her a 105-vote victory over Obenshain.

Whitbeck, Dunbar and Blackwell will join the delegates elected Saturday and the 33 delegates that will be chosen at congressional district conventions in May at the national convention this summer.