Underwood also received backing from Horace Greeley and Eli Thayer to form a colony for northern workers in Ceredo.

[6] Republicans, such as Cassius Marcellus Clay and Underwood, viewed John Brown's raid on Harpers Ferry as damaging to the party.

[9] In June 1865, the Radical Republicans, which included many of the party's founders, held a convention in Alexandria which supported black suffrage.

Wilson unsuccessfully attempted to have the act structured to result in Pierpont administering the constitutional convention election rather than the military commander.

Elihu B. Washburne and Schuyler Colfax advocated for the convention to be generous towards the voting rights of former Confederates while Hunnicutt supported disenfranchisement.

The constitution written by the convention disfranchised a large number of Confederates and required loyalty oaths for local and state officials.

[14] Schofield removed Pierpont, who was appealing to the Radicals to aid in his election, from the governorship stating that his term had expired under the current constitution.

Wells received the Republican gubernatorial nomination against other nominees, including Hunnicutt, but the loyalty oath requirement was maintained despite another attempt by Schofield.

A brief upturn occurred when William Mahone formed the Readjuster Party, a bi-racial populist coalition of Democrats and Republicans which held its height of power from 1870 to 1883.

Virginia Republicans managed to help Herbert Hoover and Charles Curtis win the 1928 election but would only regain their statewide competitiveness after Dwight D. Eisenhower carried the state in 1952.

Former Governor Jim Gilmore ran as the Republican nominee in the 2008 election and was subsequently defeated by Democratic challenger Mark Warner who has held the seat since.

Out of the 11 seats Virginia is apportioned in the U.S. House of Representatives, five are held by Republicans: Kate Obenshain Griffin of Winchester became the party's chairman in 2004.

Following Senator George Allen's unsuccessful 2006 reelection bid, Griffin submitted her resignation as Chairman effective November 15, 2006.

[17] On May 31, 2008, Hager was defeated in his bid for re-election at a statewide GOP convention by a strongly conservative member of the House of Delegates, Jeff Frederick of Prince William County.

On April 4, 2009, Frederick was removed from the position by RPV's State Central Committee, in a move backed by most of the senior GOP establishment.

[18][19] Many argued that Frederick's election and later removal was a war within the party between insiders and outsiders,[20] or grassroots versus establishment Republicans.

At the convention, the party nominations committee ruled that Haley did not qualify to seek the office, and Whitbeck was re-elected unopposed to a full four-year term.

[32][33] Whitbeck resigned from his position on July 21, 2018, due to differences with Corey Stewart, the party's nominee for U.S. Senate in that year's race for U.S.

[34] In September 2018, Jack R. Wilson, the party's 4th Congressional District Chairman since 2007 and a lawyer from Chesterfield County, was elected to fill the balance of Whitbeck's term.

A party canvass or "firehouse primary" allows participants to arrive anytime during announced polling hours, cast a secret ballot, and then leave.

In August 2004, Stephen Martin, an incumbent State Senator, designated that the Republican candidate for his seat in the November 2007 election should be selected by primary.

[43] The Republican State Central Committee dropped plans to require voters to sign a loyalty oath before voting in the February 2008 Presidential Primary.

[44] At a March 20, 2014, meeting, John Ferguson defeated Leslie Williams to become Chairman of the Campbell County Republican Committee.

In response, Ferguson and the other party officials that were elected filed a lawsuit to block a new mass meeting to fill the seats.

The GOP nominees for Lieutenant Governor, Winsome Sears, and Attorney General, Jason Miyares, also won their respective races.

Prior to the January 6 joint session of the United States Congress to certify Joe Biden's win, Republican Delegates Dave LaRock (Loudon), Mark Cole (Fauquier), and Ronnie Campbell (R-Lexington) sent a letter to Vice President Mike Pence urging him to nullify Virginia's electoral results.

[52] Republican 2021 candidate for Governor Sen. Amanda Chase attended the rally prior to the January 6 storming of the United States Capitol.

After the riot that left one person dead,[53] party chairman Rich Anderson said in a statement "I and Virginia Republicans across our great Commonwealth condemn these despicable acts without reservation or hesitation.

Democrats and other Republicans criticized him for the choice of words, while he defended himself by pointing out that “ghetto has nothing to do with race” and that he had only been referring to the building, not the neighborhood.