Virginia Republicans are getting ready for a busy political weekend as they will select candidates to run in three U.S. House races in Districts 5, 8 and 10.
It is happening outside of the traditional state-run primary process, with Republicans choosing their candidates through local party-run events, such as conventions.
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“Districts are free under the state party plan, which is essentially our constitution, to select their nomination method whether they want to do the primary or a party-run method,” said Rich Anderson, chairman of Virginia’s Republican party.
By far the most crowded race is in the 10th Congressional District, which includes Loudoun County and parts of Fairfax and Prince William counties.
“They have a lot of candidates,” Anderson said. “They have a total of 11 Republicans running for that one nomination.”
Republican voters will be able to participate at various locations across the district. They will use ranked-choice voting, which allows voters to rank several candidates rather than just picking one.
The winner will face Democratic incumbent Rep. Jennifer Wexton in November. Wexton does not have any Democratic challengers in the race.
In the 8th Congressional District, which includes parts of Fairfax and Arlington counties, there are five Republicans running Saturday.
“They are doing a convention,” Anderson said.
That means only voters who are registered as convention delegates will be able to participate.
The Republican who wins will advance to November where they will face the winner of the June 21 primary between Democratic incumbent Rep. Don Beyer and challenger Victoria Virasingh.
Virginia’s 5th Congressional District will also be hosting a convention on Saturday as the incumbent Republican Rep. Bob Good faces a challenge from Dan Moy, the chairman of the Charlottesville GOP Committee.
The winner of that race will face Democratic candidate Josh Throneburg in November. Throneburg is running unopposed on the Democratic side.
