Jo Viglione worked for seven years as the legislative assistant to Delegate Rob Bell, the Republican incumbent already called by WINA as the winner of the 58th district. Although she retired roughly a year and a half ago, she planned tonight’s event for the Republican party at Rivals, and says the party has taken place here since she worked for Bell, if not longer.
I spoke briefly with Viglione and Christian Schoenewald, chairman of the Albemarle County Republican Party. I asked for the biggest difference between this year’s event and previous years.
"I think people are a lot happier," replied Schoenewald. Viglione (pictured right, in black dress) agreed.
"There are a lot of young people here," added Viglione. "I think we’re doing better at [encouraging] young interest in the Republican party."
Viglione mentioned that she thought young voters were more interested because Republicans found a way to clearly communicate their message; I asked for her to tell me how she would describe the mission of the local Republican party to a young voter.
"We believe in personal responsibility, less government, lower taxes," said Viglione. "Most importantly, we believe in people making responsible decisions."
