Rutledge for Virginia Governor 2025

09/03/2026

Virginia First Update
Subject: No Forfeits. No Darkness. Real Contests Only.
Fellow Virginians,
A Republican campaign that quietly concedes the field, fails to put candidates on the ballot, or settles for an uncontested primary is not a campaign. It is a forfeit. Merle Rutledge has made clear he rejects that approach.
In 2025 the Republican primary for governor was canceled after multiple candidates, including Rutledge, did not meet ballot-access requirements. Winsome Earle-Sears advanced without opposition. That outcome left Republican voters with no primary choice. Rutledge has publicly positioned his subsequent U.S. Senate effort against Mark Warner as the opposite of that model: an explicit refusal to let the party operate in the dark or accept a walkover.
Core points of his current posture, drawn from his own statements and campaign materials:
• Reject establishment gatekeeping that keeps challengers off ballots or stages.
• Demand actual contests instead of pre-ordained nominations.
• Prioritize issues he has repeatedly raised: energy development (including nuclear and lifting restrictions on uranium), tax and regulatory relief for small business and working families, Second Amendment expansion, parental rights in education, and aggressive opposition to what he calls RINO accommodation.
Republicans who prefer quiet deals and low-visibility campaigns will not like this style. That is the point. Voters who want candidates willing to force open primaries, debate, and accountability should evaluate Rutledge’s record and current Senate bid on those terms—not on polished press releases or invented metrics.
No inflated numbers. No manufactured momentum claims. Just the documented pattern: he has run repeatedly, lost when the votes were counted, failed to qualify when the rules required signatures, and continues to campaign as an anti-forfeit outsider.
If you want more primary fights and fewer canceled ones, the path is clear: support candidates who refuse to accept darkness as strategy.
— Independent Virginia political update
Sources: Ballotpedia candidate page for Merle Rutledge; Virginia Public Access Project election records; candidate’s public campaign statements and website materials.

09/02/2026

08/30/2026

RUTLEDGE FOR U.S. SENATE 2026
Weekly Newsletter – The Pitbull Report
America First. Virginia First. No excuses.
Team,
Let’s talk real numbers — the kind the establishment hopes you ignore.
Our 28-day Truth Social dashboard shows 83,999 views. The platform marks it “↓66%.” Here’s the actual story: when your normal daily organic reach sits below that 66% baseline, restoring the full picture puts our true average north of 100,000 views. That’s not decline. That’s the floor of a grassroots machine still punching above its weight while the paid consultants and career politicians scramble.
Engagement at 5,350 and a net +9 followers in the same window? That’s real people, not bots or big-donor buys. Zero earnings means zero strings. We answer to Virginians, not the swamp.
Meanwhile, Bert the Cadet is still drifting down Sesame Street — polite, polished, and completely irrelevant to the fight.
When you’re a piss-poor leader and candidate, it’s natural for voters to look for other options! Damn it, you’re down by 80, man! No way in hell you’re down this low with over 300k raised! This has become a forfeit race with Merle Rutledge as the only hope — as usual, the People’s Champion!
Bert can keep counting rubber ducks and recycling consultant talking points. We’ll keep stacking real reach, real pressure, and real America First energy.
This Week’s Stances – Boxing the Cuck In
We stayed on offense:
• Hammered Mark Warner’s Iran record as a masterclass in weakness and hypocrisy — sanctions when it was convenient, soft multilateralism when it counted.
• Stood with ICE and law enforcement: protocols exist for a reason, actions have consequences, and public safety comes first.
• Kept the heat on data-center sprawl, power bills, cost of living, and the human-trafficking crisis Warner’s long tenure has failed to stop.
• Term limits. Drain the swamp. America First every single day.
This is how you box a 17-year incumbent in. You don’t ask for the seat. You take the conversation, force the contrast, and make the career politician defend a record he would rather hide. Warner can keep the loafers and the donor dinners. We’ll keep the fight.
The algorithm can dip. The base doesn’t. Our reels, our groups, and our message continue cutting through Northern Virginia, the Southside, rural counties, Black conservative networks, parental-rights activists, and small-business owners who are tired of being lectured by D.C.
Next Steps – Keep the Pressure On
• Share every hard-hitting reel.
• Tag three patriots who are done with Warner’s bipartisan theater and tired of weak primary options.
• Chip in whatever you can to fuel the next wave of content that actually lands.
Official fundraising link: https://RutledgeForSenate.com/Donate
Campaign site: RutledgeforVA.com
Email: [email protected]
This is Merle “Pitbull” Rutledge.
We’re not asking. We’re taking.
America First. Virginia First. Let’s go.
— Merle Rutledge Jr.
Republican Candidate for U.S. Senate – Virginia 2026
Republican Wolf Pack of Virginia

My name is Merle Rutledge and I’m running for 2025 Governor of Va Republican nomination. I would like to be vetted by your organization and speak to executives that have questions about how we can improve Virginia and make it Stronger for all people and not weirdo Democrats! Below are some links o...