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Our Strategic Goals
★ Support Veterans and their Families
★ Defend our Constitution as Written and Amended
★ Protect the Nation at Home and Abroad
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Whirlwind Changes
In the whirlwind of changes in the first 100 days of the second Trump administration, it is hard at times to make sense of it all. The previous four years of the Biden administration left behind a legacy of dire problems in defense, border security, inflation, illegal immigrants, crime, lawfare, economic malaise – the list goes on.
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Bob Wood
CEO, American Veterans Vote
LTG (R), US Army
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It's not wrong to describe the first 100 days of President Trump’s first term as Discovery while the first 100 days of this second term as Recovery. He came to D.C. in January 2017 having been to Washington six times. He arrived this time in January 2025 with full appreciation of the challenges he faced to accomplish all he had promised on the campaign trail. Priorities were set. There are many. Secure the border, return peace through strength, ensure fair trade deals, lower taxes, rebuild America’s vital industries and supply chains, restore jobs and economic growth, cut bureaucratic bloat, confront modern threats, and combat cultural rot...Pant, pant. President Trump won the election and was clear in his campaign on his goals and objectives. He’s got a short amount of time, a tough job to do, and a strong team assembled. Promises Made, Promises Kept!
And AVV has its job to do in Virginia! We can’t be swept into the vortex of national politics. Our job is to help hold HD seats, win ONE (!) more, and get a new state ticket elected. Focus, team. American Veterans, Vote. Our priority must be to win elections, not arguments. To keep our azimuth, our purpose, and our Virginia momentum, AVV amplified our own goals with a new set of 2025 objectives. Our communications, our advocacy, and our public and political engagements seek to advance accomplishment of these objectives. Every Veteran, Every Vote is vital to accomplishing these Goals and Objectives; Change through the ballot box now has a framework and a set of metrics! Our goals with related objectives are shown in the table below:
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We have also analyzed where AVV must spend its time, talent and resources in this election cycle. The tables below lay out voter turnout percentages by CD and useful planning information on Veteran voting behavior.
1. The good news is that, in Virginia, Republican Veteran voters (RVETS) outnumber Democrat Veteran voters (DVETS) by 2 to 1. And, as you might suspect, the greatest number of RVETS live and vote in the Congressional Districts (CD’s) with Republican Congressmen (CD’s 1,2,5,6,and 9). For Statewide and local elections, this large Veteran voter population is a key target for Get Out the Vote activities. AVV has contact information for all these Veterans.
2. There is a clear pattern to these voting percentages. Not surprisingly, Veteran voter turnout peaks for Presidential elections (2020) and tails off in the years between. Veteran voting falls off an average of 12% in the year after we elect a president. It’s fair to predict such a falloff in the upcoming 2025 election. It’s equally fair to presume the Veterans who don’t vote in the year before a Presidential election, for example in 2023, may be so called “low propensity” RVET voters who are likely to sit out the 2025 election. Again, AVV knows who these voters are in our data. This is a large number (113,147 Veteran voters!) for our strategic Get Out The Vote (GOTV) focus.
VETERAN VOTING TURNOUT PERCENTAGES
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LOW PROPENSITY VETERAN COUNT
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With our strategic focus on GOTV, our clear goals and objectives, and our great team of Veterans and Veteran supporters, AVV is confident of our ability to, once again, bring the collective vote of Veterans to bear and help achieve change through the Ballot Box.
EVERY VETERAN, EVERY VOTE.
Veterans Forward,
Bob Wood
LTG (R), US Army
CEO, American Veterans Vote
Please donate to AVV at our website
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Be Fruitful & Multiply
By
Michael B. (Yama) Hoyes
COL (R), USAF
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In the Bible narrative (Genesis 1 and 2), as the sixth day culminated, mankind was created and given the charge to “be fruitful and multiply.” We understand this to be the creation of “family.” In that singular charge, there was a unified purpose. This reminds me of basic training in a way, an experience of which all who have served can testify.
My military experience began as a New York City born and bred young man making my first solo journey on an airline, landing in Colorado Springs and upon deplaning seeing an actual tumbleweed for the first time in my life…well other than those I saw watching “Gunsmoke” and “Bonanza” on TV. VERY shortly thereafter I was stripped of not only my personal effects, but also of whatever singular identity I thought I had…no, from that moment on in basic training I would be molded into the United States Armed Forces…into the team, the family I would live with for over 30 years.
I now have brothers and sisters who have likewise served and bear the distinguished “Veteran” title. Sadly, some Veterans could also be labeled “low propensity voters…” people who are eligible to vote but have a history of infrequent participation in elections.
It wasn’t too long after I completed basic training that I became a trainer…taking on the mantle of molding others into the service “family.” I believe a similar opportunity exists today for Veterans who participate in the political sphere. But, it is not enough to just “do our own thing…” no, we must bring others as active members into the family. So, it is incumbent upon us to mold those low propensity Veteran voters (in particular) to become active participants. Voting is truly the simplest service. If we don’t do that, who will ensure our family is taken care of? How could we expect to “be fruitful and multiply?”
EVERY VETERAN, EVERY VOTE!
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American Veterans Vote, Inc. (AVV) is a volunteer team of Veterans and Veteran supporters. We are a 527 Political Action Committee with a nationally-focused mission to promote the political power of Veterans and Veteran supporters in support of our three strategic goals:
- Support of Veterans and their Families
- Defend our Constitution as Written and Amended
- Protect the Nation at Home and Abroad
AVV’s goal is to help Veterans maximize their political voice by supporting Veterans’ ability to Vote, Volunteer and Lead.
"Every Veteran, Every Vote."
We don't speak FOR Veterans... we speak AS Veterans.
| | PAID FOR BY AMERICAN VETERANS VOTE | | | | |
