Republican chairman Frederick says he’ll fight to retain post

Embattled Republican Party of Virginia chairman Jeffrey M. Frederick is signaling that he will fight to regain his post at the state convention in May if the party's leaders vote to remove him today.

"I'm confident I'll win the vote and this won't be an issue," Frederick told the Richmond Times-Dispatch. "However, if a chairman is removed, the Party Plan clearly states that the next regular Republican State Convention . . . must choose a new chairman."

"This is essential for ensuring that a chairman has the support of the grass roots," the Prince William delegate continued in an e-mail response.

"As I expect to be the chairman of the Republican Party of Virginia . . . I have not given any consideration to standing for that post at the May convention, but have not ruled it out."

The party's governing body, the central committee, is expected to meet today at a western Henrico County hotel to vote on whether Frederick should keep the unsalaried post to which he was elected less than a year ago.

Frederick's opponents say they have the required votes -- three-quarters, or 58 of 77 members -- to expel the 33-year-old party chief; one roll call put the number at 59 votes against.

This week, Frederick hired two lawyers to represent him on the ouster issue.

Frederick yesterday said he has the votes necessary to retain his position, which is traditionally held for four years. The chairman needs just 20 votes from the committee to keep his job.

"It looks great," he said in a brief phone interview. "We've got the votes, if everyone does what they're supposed to do."

In May, at the state GOP convention, thousands of Republicans, many of them grass-roots activists who installed Frederick as chairman in May 2008, are expected to choose the party's nominee for attorney general -- and perhaps contest an ouster vote by fewer than 100 senior party leaders.

The Frederick controversy has exploded at a critical time for the state party. The Virginia governor's race is one of two national governor's races up for election this fall, and leaders want to go into the campaign with a unified front.

Dozens of party leaders -- including presumptive GOP gubernatorial candidate Bob McDonnell, the Republican congressional delegation and ranking state lawmakers -- have called for Frederick's removal.

Frederick upset longtime party chairman and former Lt. Gov. John H. Hager last year with an upswell of conservative grass-roots support at the state party convention. Since that time, he has had difficulty winning support of the party's old guard.

A recent petition calling for his ouster cited 10 grievances over Frederick's handling of party finances and operations. He also has committed several political gaffes, most notably his repeating of a Rush Limbaugh comment during last year's election that Osama Bin Laden and Barack Obama both had friends who had bombed the Pentagon.

Republicans lost the presidential election in Virginia for the first time in 44 years. The GOP also gave up three congressional seats, and a U.S. Senate seat.

Contact Jeff E. Schapiro at (804) 649-6814 or .

Contact Jim Nolan at (804) 649-6061 or .