The Republican Party of Virginia Beach

As chairman of the Republican Party of Virginia Beach, I welcome you to our website and encourage you to become familiar with our party, our elected officials, the history of the Republican Party, and upcoming events. I personally extend an invitation to you to consider joining our party.

The purpose of the Republican Party of Virginia Beach is to support our Republican candidates in their elections as well as promoting the conservative values, as defined in the creed of the Republican Party, to our members and throughout the community.

Throughout our history, the Republican Party has clearly demonstrated that our party was founded on equality for all and that we were fighting this battle on behalf of our fellow citizens long before it was popular to do so.

Our events and meetings are open to the public, and feature many guest speakers from throughout the Commonwealth who serve our citizens in elected offices.

Please accept my personal invitation to attend any of our events and meetings, and see for yourself what the Republican Party of Virginia Beach is all about. We are open, fair, and inclusive to all.

 

 

Important Information

RPVB Membership Nomination Form

RPVB ByLaws

RPV Party Plan

 

Republican Party History

Reducing the size of government. Streamlining the bureaucracy. Returning power to the states. These are all stances the Republican Party. The Republican Party, since its inception, has been at the forefront of the fight for individuals' rights in opposition to a large, bloated government.

As the party of the open door, while steadfast in our commitment to our ideals, we respect and accept that members of our Party can have deeply held and sometimes differing views. This diversity is a source of strength, not a sign of weakness, and so we welcome into our ranks all who may hold differing positions. We commit to resolve our differences with civility, trust, and mutual respect, and to affirm the common goals and beliefs that unite us.

The Republican Party was born in the early 1850's by anti-slavery activists and individuals who believed that government should grant western lands to settlers free of charge.

The first informal meeting of the party took place in Ripon, Wisconsin, a small town northwest of Milwaukee. The first official Republican meeting took place on July 6th, 1854 in Jackson, Michigan.

The name "Republican" was chosen because it alluded to equality and reminded individuals of Thomas Jefferson's Democratic-Republican Party.

In 1856, the Republicans became a national party when John C. Fremont was nominated for President under the slogan: "Free soil, free labor, free speech, free men, Fremont."

The Republicans of that time worked to pass the:

• 13th Amendment, which outlawed slavery
• 14th Amendment, which guaranteed equal protection under the laws
• 15th Amendment, which helped secure voting rights for African-Americans

In 1896, Republicans were the first major party to favor women's suffrage. The Republican Party played a leading role in securing women the right to vote. When the 19th Amendment was finally added to the Constitution, 26 of the 36 state legislatures that had voted to ratify it were under Republican control. The first woman elected to Congress was a Republican, Jeanette Rankin from Montana in 1917.

Our Foundation is Built on Freedom for All

• In 1860, one of the "planks" in the Republican Party Platform called for building the Transcontinental Railroad and in 1862, the Republican-controlled congress passed the Pacific Railway Act, authored by Rep. Samuel Curtis (R-IA) and was signed into law later the same day by Abraham Lincoln.
• In 1862, the Republican-controlled 37th Congress passed the Land-Grant College Act. The law, written by Representative Justin Morrill (R-VT), distributed federal land to states to fund the establishment of colleges and universities throughout the country.
• In 1863, the statue atop the U.S. Capitol was hoisted into place. Among the onlookers was the African-American who made it, Philip Reid. Mr. Reid had been a slave until freed by the Republican Party's DC Emancipation Act the year before.
• In 1863, Romualdo Pacheco was elected state treasurer of California, and then to the state legislature. In 1871, he was elected Lt. Governor. Four years later, the incumbent governor was elected to the U.S. Senate, making Pacheco the 12th Governor of California and the first Hispanic Governor in U.S. History.
• In 1867, with the purpose of establishing an institution of higher learning for emancipated slaves and other African-Americans, Senator Samuel Pomeroy (R-KS) and Representative Burton Cook (R-IL) wrote the charter for Howard University, in Washington, D.C.
• In 1870, Hiram Revels, born a free man, and a former military chaplin, began his political career as a Republican, on the Natchez City Council. He then won a seat in the state senate. When the state was re-admitted to the Union in 1870, the legislature elected Revels to the U.S. Senate.
• In 1871, the Republican-controlled 42nd Congress passed a Civil Rights Act aimed at the Ku Klux Klan. Guilty of murdering hundreds of African-Americans, this terrorist organization had also eradicated the Republican Party throughout most of the South. The law empowered the Republican administration of Ulysses Grant to protect the civil rights of the former slaves in federal court, bypassing the Democrat-controlled state courts.
• The 1871 Civil Rights Act, along with the GOP's 1870 Civil Rights Act, effectively banned the Klan and enabled Republican officials to arrest hundreds of Klansmen. Though the U.S. Supreme Court would eventually strike down most of the 1871 Civil Rights Act, the Ku Klux Klan was crushed. The KKK did not rise again until the Democratic administration of President Woodrow Wilson
• In 1887, Susanna Salter (R-KS), daughter-in-law of a former Lt. Governor, was elected mayor of Argonia, a Kansas town of some 500 people. Support from the local Republican Party was key to her victory. The first woman to serve as mayor, Salter became a national celebrity. On March 2, 1960, President Dwight Eisenhower honored her with a proclamation celebrating her 100th birthday.
• In 1906, President Theodore Roosevelt (R-NY) nominated Oscar Straus for Secretary of Commerce and Labor. The German-born Straus would be the first Jewish person to serve as a Cabinet Secretary. While in office, he strongly denounced Democrats' attempts to incite class hatred.
• In 1924, Republican President Calvin Coolidge signed the Indian Citizenship Act, granting citizenship to all Native Americans. The law had been written by Rep. Homer Snyder (R-NY), who had been a delegate to the 1916 and 1920 Republican National Conventions. It was passed by the Republican-controlled 68th Congress.
• In 1940, the Republican National Convention approved a plank in its platform calling for racial integration of the armed forces: "Discrimination in the civil service, the army, navy, and all other branches of the Government must cease."
• For the next eight years, Democratic presidents Franklin Delano Roosevelt and Harry Truman refused to integrate. Not until 1948 did President Truman finally comply with the Republicans' demands for racial justice in the U.S. military.
• In 1954, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that racial segregation in public schools is unconstitutional. The author of Brown v. Board of Education was a Republican, Chief Justice Earl Warren.
  Members of the Republican Party also:
  • Established the Federal Highway System under President Dwight D. Eisenhower.
  • Passed the Civil Rights Act in 1957, establishing the Civil Rights Division within the Department of Justice over the Democrats attempt to fillibuster the passage of this legislation.
  • Republican President Eisenhower ordered solidiers of the 101st Airborne Division to enforce school intergration in Little Rock, Arkansas.
  • Eisenhower appointee to the Federal Bench, former Georgia Republican Party leader Elbert Tuttle recognized that the Brown vs Board of Education was a "broad mandate for racial justice" ruled in 1962 that the University of Mississippi admit its first African-American students.
  • Elected the first Asian-American Senator
  • Elected the first Hispanic U.S. Senator
  • Passed the Indian Citizenship Act
  • Proposed and established Yellowstone National Park

The Republican Party Creed

We Believe:

• That the free enterprise system is the most productive supplier of human needs and economic justice,
• That all individuals are entitled to equal rights, justice, and opportunities and should assume their responsibilities as citizens in a free society,
• That fiscal responsibility and budgetary restraints must be exercised at all levels of government,
• That the Federal Government must preserve individual liberty by observing Constitutional limitations,
• That peace is best preserved through a strong national defense,
• That faith in God, as recognized by our Founding Fathers is essential to the moral fiber of the Nation.

Reverend William J. H. Boetcker & Republican Values

Although this quote was wrongly attributed to Abraham Lincoln, these sentiments were created by the Rev. William J. H. Boetcker, who lectured around the United States about industrial relations at the turn of the twentieth century.

• You cannot bring prosperity by discouraging thrift.
• You cannot help small men by tearing down big men.
• You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong.
• You cannot lift the wage earner by pulling down the wage payer.
• You cannot help the poor man by destroying the rich.
• You cannot keep out of trouble by spending more than your income.
• You cannot further brotherhood of men by inciting class hatred.
• You cannot establish security on borrowed money.
• You cannot build character and courage by taking away man's initiative and independence.
• You cannot help men permanently by doing for them what they could and should do for themselves.