KEEP VIRGINIA IN THE NATIONAL SPOTLIGHT AND HELP SECURE A REPUBLICAN STATEWIDE SWEEP IN 2017 WHAT IS AT STAKE? The coming 2017 statewide elections, especially the govemnor’s race, will be critical for the future of the Commonwealth. For the following reasons 2 Republican gubernatorial victory is essential: + A Democrat governor would seek to shift Virginia firmly away from pro-growth policies. Unions are pouring money into the Democrat Party of Virginia to push back against our right-to-work law. Both Democrat candidates for govemor have committed to raising statewide taxes and the minimum wage to over $12 an hour! Virginia’s status as a business-friendly state will not survive another Democrat gubernatorial administration. * Another Democrat statewide victory in Virginia would result in Democrat judicial control of the redistricting process for all of Virginia's Congressional seats as well as both houses of the Virginia General Assembly. This would cost the GOP at least 2, and potentially up to 4, Congressional seats and put control of the Virginia General Assembly up for grabs. * An 8" straight statewide loss by Republicans in the Commonwealth would mark the end of Virginia being viewed as a swing state. Such a loss would result in a shift in focus away from Virginia by national Republican groups and put the Commonwealth on a path toward being viewed as Maryland or New Jersey, a solid Democrat state, The ‘Commonwealth’s future as non-Democrat state is on the ballot this November. THE PATH TO VICTORY Given the Democrats recent streak of statewide victories, the question has been publicly muted, can Republicans still win statewide in Virginia? The answer: a resounding ‘YES! Due to Virginia's off-year nature for statewide elections, turnout will be far lower than a presidential election year. Given the voter file and current turnout projections, the maximum number of voters needed to win in 2017 would be 1.22 million votes. In the March 1, 2016 Republican Presidential Primary, 1.02 million voters chose amongst our Republican candidates compared to less than 800,000 Democrats. The 2016 primary turnout gives Republicans a large base that is already very close to our required victory number.Furthermore, cutting edge data from our database, i360, shows that there are approximately 200,000 unregistered Republican voters in the Shenandoah Valley, Southside Virginia, and Southwest. By investing the necessary resources to register and turnout these voters, combined with efforts to turnout our Republican base, our Party can ensure that there will be little reliance upon swing voters to deliver a General Election Vietory as possible. WHY DONATE TO RPV? In 2016, the Republican Party of Virginia invested more than $2 million in state and federal races. While Donald Trump was ultimately unable to win Virginia, the Party was able to assist Barbara Comstock in holding a highly competitive Northern Virginia congressional seat and keep two open, swing Congressional districts in Republican hands. The Republican Party of Virginia is uniquely qualified for the task of turning Virginia red in 2017. Very simply, the candidates running for statewide office will not focus their resources on voter registration, it is expensive and takes away from voter contact, In addition, due to having to appeal to swing voters, our gubernatorial candidates are less able to make appeals to our base to keep them constantly fired up and engaged. Outside organizations, whether SuperPAC or S01, have to mask their intentions in public advocacy appeals or by not saying words such as “Register Republican” or “Vote Republican.” The Republican Party of Virginia is under no such restrictions, PROGRAM COSTS Registering and turning out 100,000 new Republican voters will require a total investment of $2 million over the course of 2017. While this may seem high, the typical cost for a 501c group to register new voters is a $35 to $50 per voter. Research has show by being able to explicitly mention registering Republican, state parties can get this cost down, to $20 or less. To fully implement the first phase of our voter registration program RPV will need to raise $250,000 by June 1%. This early investment will then ensure we are prepared to help our nominees when they hit the ground running in June for November's general election. IN SUMMARY An investment in RPV today is critical to us winning both now and in the future. The stakes for the Commonwealth are incredibly crucial and if our Party is not able to fundamentally alter the electorate through voter registration, 2017 will be the last year Virginia is mentioned as “Tossup” for the foreseeable future.