Virginia GOP Votes Down Amendment Allowing Observant Jews to Participate in the May 8th Convention

At the last SCC meeting for the Virginia GOP, an amendment was brought to the table that would have allowed exemptions for religious Jews to participate in their May 8th convention. This was necessary because May 8th is a Saturday, meaning it’s Shabbat. Four Rabbis suggested this amendment to the SCC before last night’s meeting. One would think it would have been an easy item to pass. However, after nearly three hours of debate, the amendment failed. Every amendment needs 75% support to pass, and while it had a majority (55%) supporting it, the vote was only 38-28-3 (55% yes, 41% no), meaning it did not reach that threshold. This failure came after a motion was attempted that would have sent this amendment to a committee to be discussed.

That committee, unlike the SCC meetings which are streamed live on Facebook, would have discussed and voted behind closed doors. That voted failed 32-40. We have the list of last names of committee members who voted for and against that motion. In a comment, one member on the SCC said the motion to refer to the committee was “a guise to make sure these State Central members didn’t have to vote in public, referring it to a smaller committee where they had a clearer majority to defeat it there in private.”

Votes For Shifting to Committee

Blackwell, Lyman, Wright (Russ), Adams, Massoud, Slone, Beaudoin, Kelly, Stefl, Bertoldi, Deutsch, Daniel, Willis, Maxey, Yensho, Rodland, Kirk, Boyer, Welty, Troxel, Kurtz, Lilly, Kwiatkowksi, Lascolette, McDonnell, Cruey, Edwards, Sell, Rice, McCarty, Ginsberg, and Tamargo

Votes Against Shifting to Committee

Those who voted against the first motion: Way, Cook, Selph, Nunnenkamp, Free, Miller, Allen, Tolbert, Higgins, Webb, (Trevor), Turner (Thomas), Steiner, Walker, Cosgrove, Batten, Dye, Ryer, Lankford, Curtis, Dunn, de Triquet, Coburn, Proffitt, Turner (Levin), Butler, Carroll, Curran, Palathingal, Thompson, Lester, Holmes, Wright (Ron), Flynn, Deastlov, Dyer, Johnson, Bartlett, Quinn, Cole, and Suetterlein

Afterwards, the SCC immediately voted on the proposed amendment seen here:

Consider a Party Plan amendment that provides a religious accommodation for convention delegates.

4. In Article XII, paragraph 3, insert at the end a new paragraph “The State Central Committee may provide for delegates whose religious obligations prevent them from voting during the convention to cast ballots in the same manner as Military Members.”

Votes in Favor of the Religious Exception

Way, Cook, Nunnenkamp, Free, Miller, Allen, Adams, Tolbert, Higgins, Beaudoin, Webb, (Trevor), Turner (Thomas), Steiner, Walker, Batten, Dye, Ryer, Lankford, Curtis, Dunn, de Triquet, Coburn, Proffitt, Turner (Levin), Butler, Carroll, Thompson, Lester, Holmes, Cruey, Wright (Ron), Flynn, Deastlov, Dyer, Johnson, Bartlett, Quinn, Cole

Votes Against the Religious Exception

Blackwell, Lyman, Wright (Russ), Massoud, Slone, Stefl, Bertoldi, Deutsch, Daniel, Willis, Maxey, Yensho, Rodland, Kirk, Boyer, Welty, Troxel, Kurtz, Lilly, Kwiatkowksi, Lascolette, McDonnell, Palathingal, Edwards, Sell, Rice, McCarty, Tamargo

Abstentions

Kelly, Webb (Dan), Ginsberg

Other Comments

Multiple people did not vote on the amendment itself. Multiple Republican gubernatorial candidates, including Pete Snyder, Glenn Youngkin, and Kirk Cox, as well as the Republican Jewish Coalition, have asked the SCC to reconsider in the aftermath of our original report. A member of the SCC who wished to remain anonymous commented that “This vote to disallow those who are observing a religious practice, in this case Jewish voters, from participating in our convention. This is another ploy from many members of the committee who support a certain campaign, whether they are financially compensated or not, this was a ploy to stop more people from voting at the convention.” The same member added that “This is an extrapolation of what has been occurring since we started these meetings.”

All Virginia GOP SCC meetings are streamed live on their Facebook page; this is not inside information and is available to the public if you would like to see for yourselves. Stay with Elections Daily for continued coverage of Virginia 2021.