CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA (CVILLE RIGHT NOW) – Since his time as a federal employee in the Department of Defense ended, Phil Riese has been mulling ways to serve the Albemarle County community, including weighing possible runs for the Board of Supervisors and School Board.

Instead, the local small business owner was elected Monday as the new chairman of the Republican Committee of Albemarle County.

“This wasn’t necessarily on my radar previously,” Riese told Cville Right Now. “Some individuals within the Albemarle County Republican Committee reached out and asked if I might be interested in this position. I felt that this is perhaps the next step. So, I’m sort of taking a leap of faith.”

Riese understands conservatives fight an uphill battle in Albemarle County, but he wants to see more right-leaning people join that fight, especially at the local level. His main focus, he said, will be on identifying and supporting Republican candidates for the Board of Supervisors and School Board, bodies dominated by Democrats.

He said as taxes go up and affordability issues dominate political discourse in Virginia, there’s an opening for Republicans.

“There’s a lot of benefit to having a diversity of viewpoints within those boards,” Riese, who owns Unlocked History Escape Rooms, said. “We’ve just seen year after year of taxes, property tax increases, and it just seems to be no end in sight. The Democrats elected to these boards, they’re just focused on increasing spending and they’re not really focused on how they can trim the budget, how they can lower taxes.”

Riese will also be working to campaign against the Democratic redistricting amendment that will go before voters in April. And unlike many MAGA/Trump Republicans, Riese did not hesitate to condemn gerrymandering efforts nationwide, regardless of which party pushed them.

He pointed to Indiana, where state Republicans joined Democrats to rebuff the Trump-backed redistricting effort there.

“Gerrymandering is wrong no matter where it is,” Riese said. “We can’t control what Texas does. We can’t control what California does. California certainly responded to what Texas does. Gerrymandering’s bad no matter where you look. But Virginia doesn’t have to be part of the problem. It can be part of the solution.”

Riese said 72% of Albemarle voters opposed partisan gerrymandering in 2020, voting for the bipartisan commission to redrew the maps.

And Riese said Trump’s sagging approval ratings and general unfavorable rating in Albemarle doesn’t give Democrats the right to create lopsided voting maps.

“Trump, he is not the most popular person in Albemarle County,” Riese said. “But there’s still a lot of people, Republicans and independents, that support him around the state. And just because people don’t like a given president doesn’t mean that you should disenfranchise voters who do support him.”

Monday was a particularly high visibility day in the Charlottesville area for the county’s most prominent Republican elected official, 5th District Rep. John McGuire. McGuire appeared at a University of Virginia event during the day displaying an original copy of the Declaration of Independence, then hosted a meet and greet event at an Albemarle County coffee shop Monday evening, one Riese also attended.

And while the event drew as many protesters outside as it did supporters inside, Riese said it’s the kind of event that can help bring together Albemarle Republicans. He’s hoping the organization’s next meeting, Feb. 28 at 10 a.m. at Trump Cidery, will attract not just hardcore conservatives, but moderates and independents open to learning more about the party.

“We’ve got a lot of work to do. I really want to grow the membership of the local Republican Party, and I’m not just looking for people who are conservative minded. I want independents and moderates to join the party who don’t like the direction of where our county is going. They don’t like the high taxes. They don’t like how it’s becoming less and less affordable in our county. Perhaps they’re not too happy with the schools. I want to bring more youth into the local party, get them more involved, give them more of a say on the direction of our party and the direction of our county.”