NEWSLETTER: Join Arlington Republicans Tonight at Crystal City Sports Pub.
The Arlington GOP makes select newsletter updates available on our site to inform the broader public of our activities. If you would like to receive our regular, weekly newsletter, you may subscribe here: http://eepurl.com/izWNfI
Arlington Republicans will gather on the 3rd floor at Crystal City Sport Pub TONIGHT at 7pm after the polls close to watch election returns.
I encourage you to join us.
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Today is Election Day for the gerrymandering referendum.
It’s the last chance for YOU to VOTE NO to save our Commonwealth from Hakeem Jeffries-George Soros-funded redistricting power grab.
The polls are open from 6am until 7pm. If you are in line at 7pm, you will be permitted to vote.
Find your polling location here.
Late-breaking updates are very encouraging for the “VOTE NO!” side:
- An avalanche of pro-NO! ads are up on television and online. You can watch them here, here, and here. We are at PARITY with the far-left (meaning there’s the same amount of money being spent on our ads and theirs), and I am hearing reports from you that you are seeing multiple “VOTE NO!” ads back-to-back.
- Independents are breaking our way in the latest poll by more than twenty points. This is proof if we needed it that average voters are seeing through the far-left’s naked quest for power.
- Former independent Arlington County Board Member and fiscal conscience of Arlington John Vihstadt came out against the radical gerrymandering scheme. You can read his full comments below.
This race is winnable — if you and I do everything you can to turn out our voters.
You have hand-written and mailed thousands of postcards to our friends and neighbors.
You have used SwipeRed and other tools to reach your friends and neighbors.
Eric Turner has sent thousands of texts to targeted voters across Arlington, culminating in a robocall which should be hitting voicemails as you read this email. You can hear (and share) the message on Facebook here and Twitter/X here.
And I’ve taken to the airwaves to share our message with thousands of viewers and listeners. You can hear my recent WMAL interview here and clips from a conversation with the Washington Examiner here and here.
What else can you do today?
- You can still use SwipeRed to send personal messages to your network encouraging friends, family, and neighbors to vote.
- The Arlington GOP has literature you can distribute as your polling location tomorrow.
If you would like to help with either of these opportunities, please reply to this email.
Thank you so much for stepping up and taking the fight to the far-left here in Arlington.
I am so impressed by what you’ve accomplished in the weeks since Abigail Spanberger, Louise Lucas, and Don Scott forced this on voters.
Onward,
Matthew Hurtt, Chairman
Arlington GOP
P.S. Arlington Republicans are heavily engaged in “VOTE NO!” efforts ahead of the April 21st constitutional referendum. I strongly encourage you to get involved where you can over the next week.
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Please find the following updates below:
- NEW: John Vihstadt Opposes Gerrymandering Referendum
- NEW: Arlington GOP April Meeting (Monday, April 27th)
- Make an Impact in Arlington
- Arlington Dems’ Swalwell Issue
- NEW: Headlines & Other Updates
- Social Media Links
You can use Command+F on a Mac or Control+F on a PC to “find” the relevant section of this email.
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John Vihstadt Opposes Gerrymandering Reverendum
Former Arlington County Board Member John VIhstadt (2014 to 2018) sent the following message to thousands of Arlington Republicans, Democrats, and independents yesterday:
It’s been a minute, but I hope this message finds you well as I share several important messages.
Vote NO on Redistricting Referendum on Tuesday, April 21
There’s plenty of heat on this testy topic in the run-up to Tuesday’s balloting. Both major parties cloak themselves in virtue and decry it when the other party draws political lines, but when one party holds the power of the pen, principle yields to partisanship almost every time—regardless of who’s in charge. As The Washington Post editorial page wrote recently, “Even in this era of tit-for-tat politics…Democratic politicians are presenting the proposed amendment to voters in the most brazenly dishonest way imaginable.”
- The ballot question, drafted by its sponsors, asks voters “to allow the General Assembly to temporarily adopt new Congressional districts to restore fairness in the upcoming elections…” (Emphasis added.) Yet Virginia’s current districts are fair by any objective measure, and the byproduct of what Commonwealth voters approved by a landslide 66% of the vote just five years ago, backed by such diverse groups as the League of Women Voters, AARP, and the Northern Virginia Chamber of Commerce.
- Redistricting reform leader for the 2020 initiative Brian Cannon acknowledges arguments in favor of the referendum but concludes that “The answer to authoritarianism isn’t gerrymandering, [and] if the threat is democratic erosion nationally, the answer is not democratic erosion here in Virginia. If we reverse course now, we send a clear signal that reform lasts only until it becomes inconvenient…This is how democratic norms decay…a race to the bottom is not a defense strategy for democracy.” Read his moral and practical case for voting NO.
- Vote at your regular polling place this Tuesday, April 21, from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m.
John, a reasonable, moderating voice in Arlington, rarely weighs in on matters of this importance, and we are grateful he provided his thoughtful insight ahead of tomorrow’s election.
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Arlington GOP April Meeting (Monday, April 27th)
Arlington Republicans will gather for our April Membership Meeting next Monday, April 27th.
Here is the Call and Agenda for next Monday’s meeting:
Call for Monday, April April 27th, 2026 Meeting
I, Matthew Hurtt, Chairman of the Arlington County Republican Committee, hereby issue a call for a regular meeting of the Committee, to be held on Monday, April 27th, 2026, at 6:30pm. Doors will open at 6:00pm This meeting will be held in-person (in Clarendon) on the 3rd floor event space at 1101 North Highland Street, Arlington, VA 22201. Please note the time and location of this meeting.
Agenda
6:30pm to 8:00pm Arlington GOP Monthly Meeting
1 Call to Order
2 Prayer
3 Pledge of Allegiance
4 Republican Creed
5 Treasurer’s Report
7 Chairman’s Report
8 Old Business
9 New Business
10 Guest Speaker(s)
11 Campaign Updates
12 Auxiliary Reports
13 Adjournment
Any Arlington Republican is welcome to attend our Membership Meeting. I encourage you to show up, see what we’re about, and get involved where you can.
Please make your best effort to attend next Monday’s meeting. If you have any questions, simply reply to this email.
There are many ways for you to get involved in Republican efforts across Arlington. From increased leadership opportunities to events, here are several ways you can get involved now:
Arlington GOP Leadership Roles
Election Integrity: Frank Lusby leads our election integrity efforts. If you’re interested in serving as an election official or poll watcher, please reach out to him here: info@arlei.org
Candidate Recruitment: Chris Wright leads our candidate recruitment efforts. If you’re interested in running for down-ballot office (House of Delegates, County Board, etc.), email him here: cwdirect22201@yahoo.com
Precinct Operations: Frederick Tarantino leads our efforts to build up precinct operations. If you want to take on a leadership role in your precinct, email him here: frederick.tarantino@gmail.com
Policy: James Scarborough and the team are deeply invested in carving out a portfolio of commonsense policy solutions to local issues. If you’re interested in getting more involved, email James here: jbs1958@comcast.net
Civic Infrastructure: Bob Cambridge is looking to get Republicans more involved in our local civic infrastructure, including neighborhood associations. If you’re interested in getting involved, email Bob here: bcesq@verizon.net
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Make an Impact in Arlington
Arlington County is — right now! — soliciting public input on its FY2027 – FY2036 Capital Improvement Plan (CIP), with a rare opportunity to influence future spending decisions before final adoption later this year, particularly by identifying reductions in capital projects.
The current CIP reveals major planned expenditures — especially in transportation and parks — and residents are encouraged to submit comments by April 23 to help shape or potentially scale back these investments.
Arlington County is full of special interest ideologues who grovel before county leaders month after month asking for your tax dollars to be spent on their pet projects.
These special interest groups are no doubt funneling their members into this survey, so commonsense Arlingtontians like you and me must do at least the bare minimum by spending a few minutes thoughtfully responding to the County’s call for public input.
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Arlington Dems’ Swalwell Issue
Arlington Democrats boasted on April 7th about hosting Arizona Senator Ruben Gallego for a GOTV event last Fiday (April 17th).
Here’s the original announcement:
But if you check Arlington Dems’ social media over the weekend, there are NO posts or tweets about this event.
Why is that?
Between April 7th ((the original post) and April 17th (the date of the event), Ruben Gallego’s buddy California Congressman and one-time gubernatorial candidate Eric Swalwell came under fire as multiple women came forward to make credible claims of sexual harassment and even rape.
Swalwell ended his gubernatorial bid and resigned from Congress last week, and the Department of Justice is now investigating these claims.
What’s the Gallego connection, you ask?
The leftist rising star is a member of Swalwell’s “Cool Kids Clique,” a group of Democratic men who just can’t sem to shake sexual harassment and misconduct allegations.
Gallego’s sexual harassment history goes back more than a decade, when he was in the Arizona House of Representatives.
Some Democratic women — not any Arlington Dems, of course — see fit to call out Gallego for his sordid past.
Perhaps the Arlington Dems didn’t post about Friday’s event because they’d like you to forget their association with Ruben “Swalwell-light” Gallego ahead of tomorrow’s gerrymandering referendum.
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Headlines & Other Updates
I know you try your best to keep up with what’s happening in Arlington and around the Commonwealth, so here are some headlines and other updates I’ve been following over the weekend:
We All Failed Justin Fairfax [The Republican Standard]
Dueling Obama Ads Raise Democratic Anxiety Over a Virginia Vote {New York Times]
Amazon promised 25,000 jobs in Northern Virginia. Last year, it lost 73. [Washington Times]
As Virginia redistricting looms, Spanberger struggles to keep ‘moderate’ image [Christian Science Monitor]
Voters say they feel confused and misled on Virginia’s redistricting vote [NPR]
Virginia Voters Have Strong Feelings on Map Fight—Once They Understand It [Wall Street Journal]
10 questions and answers about Virginia’s redistricting referendum [Virginia Mercury]
Why some Virginia voters find redistricting ballot question confusing [WTOP]
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Social Media Links
Please connect with us on Facebook, Twitter/X, or Nextdoor — we’re working diligently to get our message in front of as many people as possible, and your support for our social media efforts helps a lot.
Arlington Republicans are very active on Twitter/X. In fact, in these quickly-shifting news cycles, our Twitter/X account is the best place to keep track of what’s happening as it happens.
Also, please forward this email to your friends and encourage them to subscribe to receive regular updates from the Arlington GOP by clicking here.