Prosperity, Security, Freedom: Vote Republican.

November 2023

 The mission of the Surry County Republican Party Candidate Vetting System (SCRPCVS) is to enhance the personal liberty and prosperity of our fellow citizens by promoting fiscally & socially conservative candidates who once elected, will faithfully & consistently support & implement the North Carolina Republican Party Platform as policy and govern in accordance with core Surry County GOP values.

This process involves questionnaires, Candidate Committee interviews, candidate forums, due diligence, Candidate Committee reports, discussion & debate.  The process culminates in a full Executive Committee secret ballot vote on which candidate, if any, to support in a race.  These votes occurs as quickly as possible after the candidate filing deadline but no later than 1 month before each Primary Election.  Individual votes are held for each race.  Voting results are posted on an officially selected website for the Surry County Republican Party as soon as possible thereafter.  Results may be shared in other manners.

1. Questionnaire.

Republican Candidates are initially invited to complete a questionnaire.  The questionnaire and the candidates’ answers to the questionnaire are made readily available online as soon as possible after delivery of questionnaires to the candidates.  At a minimum, the candidates’ answers will be made available on an officially selected website for the Surry Couty Republican Party.  If possible, all the candidates for a particular office will have their answers made public at the same time.

2. Candidate Committee Interviews.

The Candidate Committee invites each candidate to meet individually with the Committee.  Individual meeting times & places to be determined on a case-by-case basis.  These interviews will be conducted after receipt of the completed questionnaire.  The Candidate Committee members will review the Questionnaire with each candidate.  In addition, other items of importance may be discussed with each candidate.  Questions may arise from any source that the Candidate Committee members desire.   The goal of these interviews is to help determine where each candidate will actually stand on critical issues.

3. Candidate Forums.

Forums are conducted that give each candidate a chance to express their goals, views & policy stances to the County Party in particular & the full electorate in general.  All Republican candidates are invited to attend and present their case for election, the only exceptions being those candidates under censure by the Surry County Republican Party.  The Executive Committee determines the actual conduct of these forums.  It may be desirable to separate races into different forum events.  These forums are conducted no later than two months before the Primary Election date.   

4. Executive Committee Vote.

The Candidate Committee Chair presents the results of the candidate interviews to the full  Executive Committee in closed meetings.  If specific recommendations are determined by a previous Candidate Committee vote, those recommendations are presented to the Executive Committee at this time.  Each race is discussed  individually.   Any Executive Committee member with specific or first-hand information about any candidate is given the opportunity to share that information with the Executive Committee.  Time is allocated for questions & discussion. 

Secret Ballots are distributed to all present Executive Committee members in order to evaluate  the candidates for each race.  Each ballot will have an option that allows the voter to select “No Recommendation.”  

A candidate will receive the Executive Committee’s support if and only if he/she receives over 60% of the cast ballots in this vote inclusive of “No Recommendation” cast ballots.

These votes occurs as quickly as possible after the candidate filing deadline but no later than 1 month before each Primary Election.  Individual votes are held for each race. Voting results are posted on an officially selected website for the Surry Couty Republican Party as soon as possible thereafter. Results may be shared in other manners.

Special meetings of the Executive Committee are needed in order to complete this SCRPCVS process. These additional Executive Committee meetings are especially needed during the time between Candidate Filing & the Primary Elections. We have very tight deadlines with much work to do during each election cycle.

5. Notes.

The SCRPCVS process helps us as Party Leaders to promote fiscally & socially conservative candidates who genuinely support the NC Republican Party State Platform as well as our Surry County GOP core values.  Additionally, it helps us in identifying & discouraging those “Republican” candidates who do not and/or will not genuinely support the advancement of these values in their governance activities.

Of course, individual Candidate Committee & Executive Committee members are free to support whomever they wish in any race both privately and publicly.  Anyone may support non-supported candidates as individuals, but not in their official Republican Party capacity. 

Once this SCRPCVS process is completed, the Surry County GOP may officially support particular candidates in Republican Primary races.  If a non-supported candidate wins a Republican nomination, this candidate may be reviewed again to determine whether or not to support & endorse the candidate in the general election.  An endorsement for the general election only requires a 50% + positive result from the Executive Committee vote.

Winning a Republican Primary race does not necessarily ensure the support or endorsement of the Surry County Republican Party in the General Election.