Two Christmas Parties Reveal a Washoe GOP Party Split
How Two December 12 Party Invites Exposed the Fracture Inside the Washoe County GOP and Related Republican Organizations and Exposed the Alignment of Eddie Lorton.
On December 12, two Christmas parties will take place in Reno on the same night, using identical graphic templates, targeting the same political audience. One is hosted by the formal Republican Party structure. The other is hosted by a non-endorsed political coalition tied to a mayoral candidate’s privately owned property.
That duplication is not a coincidence. It confirms the presence of competing factions within the Republican organization and a growing rift between them.
What was a series of personal feuds, factional disputes, and arguments on social media has now formed into a structural split inside the Republican ecosystem of Washoe County.
This article documents that split — who controls what, who is formally recognized, who operates in the shadows, and how December 12 became the proof point.
An Overview of Republican Affiliated Organizations
The Body With Formal Authority: The Washoe County GOP
The Washoe County GOP is the official county arm of the Nevada Republican Party. It alone controls:
The Central Committee
Party bylaws
Precinct captains
Formal candidate endorsements
Its operational arm is the Washoe County Republican Central Committee (WCRCC), which is hosting the official Republican Christmas Party on December 12 at its office on South Virginia Street.
Crucially, the Washoe GOP publicly states that Republican “clubs” are independent organizations and that the party does not regulate or authorize those clubs. This distinction matters because it is the line between formal authority and parallel power.
The Women’s Republican Clubs: Power Without Formal Endorsement Authority
Two important donor-driven clubs operate alongside the party:
Both engage in fundraising and social influence. Both remain formally independent from the Washoe GOP.
The Shadow Coalition: Washoe Freedom Coalition (WFC)
The Washoe Freedom Coalition (WFC) operates outside the formal GOP structure.
That is no longer speculative. It is now publicly confirmed.
Valerie Fiannaca, aligned with GOP leadership, publicly stated: (WFC) “Which is not a GOP-affiliated club.”
She made this comment in direct response to a comment on a Facebook post by Picon Press linking to an article about the Christmas parties hosted by WCRCC and WFC.
This matters because WFC:
Sponsors political events
Hosts candidate appearances
Operates outside party disclosure rules
It is not subject to party governance
It is not formally accountable to the Washoe GOP
Yet it still routes candidates, money, and messaging.
They claim to coordinate between groups, yet their party overlaps. Go figure!
“Our Mission is to coordinate with Washoe County Conservative organizations to elect County and City candidates as well as support Ballot Measures on the 2026 ballot.”
There is no public evidence that either of the Women’s organizations endorses the Washoe Freedom Coalition; however, the two WFC organizers are members of RWR, one of whom is the president, and both are said to have attended MRRW events.
Click the image to view the Facebook post by Picon Press and the link to their article.
Washoe Patriots: The Dormant Predecessor
The Washoe Patriots held its last confirmed meeting on March 15, 2025. As of December 2025:
No new public meetings have been announced
The organization appears dormant as a branded entity
WP promoted “prepping” and other survivalist strategies
Its personnel and infrastructure migrated into WFC
The Bridge Organization: RedMove
RedMove, run by Ray Rocha, hosts lunch meetings and private candidate gatherings.
RedMove publicly stated:
“The one at Club Underground is sponsored by Washoe Freedom Coalition.”
That promotion triggered the public disclaimer by Valerie Fiannaca, who is associated with Bruce Parks, who runs Washoe GOP.
RedMove serves as a bridge among the GOP, candidates, and non-endorsed coalitions.
The Shadow-Network Operators
At the center of the shadow infrastructure:
Nicholas St Jon
Manages WFC’s email list
Formerly built the Washoe Patriots’ infrastructure
Kate Vineyard, organizer of WFC and active in RWR and MRRW
Debbie Hudgens, organizer of WFC and president of RWR, and active in MRRW
Kate and Debbie are the public-facing political operators of WFC. Nicholas controls the backend communications pipeline.
Together, that means: They control candidate access without party oversight.
Kate and Debbie contacted me by email to ask me to promote their party, and got aggressive when I declined.
Sources tell me that Kate and Debbie swagger at Republican Women’s events and seek to throw their weight around; however, their potluck and lunch events draw only about 15 to 20 people, so it’s unclear what influence they have.
Eddie Lorton: The Mayoral Candidate at the Center of the Feud
Eddie Lorton has:
Spoken at WFC events, and WFC has promoted him
Demonstrated personal loyalty to Kate Vineyard and Debbie Hudgens
Eddie called me 3 times and emailed me twice, asking me to promote the WFC party and to work with Kate and Debbie, which I declined.
Has no confirmed endorsement from the Washoe GOP
December 12 changes everything.
Two Christmas Parties, Same Night, Same Audience
1) The Official Party
Hosted by the Washoe County Republican Central Committee (WCRCC) — the operational arm of the Washoe GOP.
2) The Shadow Coalition Party
Hosted by:
Promoted by Kate Vineyard and Debbie Hudgens
Sponsored as a standalone WFC event
Held at:
A property owned by Eddie Lorton
Eddie asked his tenant, a RAVE club, to allow WFC to use the facility for free.
That is not symbolic. It is material financial support in the form of an in-kind contribution.
The Property–Tenant–Coalition–Candidate Loop
This single decision creates a stacked convergence:
The candidate owns the building
The tenant operates a nightlife and alcohol venue
The non-endorsed political coalition hosts the event
Tickets are sold
Alcohol is served
Political promotion occurs
The venue is provided at no apparent cost
From a compliance standpoint, this creates:
Potential in-kind campaign contribution exposure
Liquor liability
Electioneering venue risk
Undisclosed sponsorship concerns
This is no longer a “grassroots get-together.” It is a politically subsidized event at a candidate-owned property.
The Public Backlash
After Brandon Deriso of Club Underground posted comments on their Facebook page supporting Eddie:
Members of the public replied that:
WFC is a fringe element that will scare away club goers
Eddie is a far-right slum lord who has lost before
Regardless of fairness, accuracy, or intent, this marks the first time that:
The shadow coalition alignment has crossed into open public reputational damage.
This is no longer a quiet internal GOP fight.
You can click the link to read the comments by Club Underground supporting Eddie Lorton and the replies. There are too many to post here, but this is a sample.
Brandon is no stranger to controversy. You can read about him here, Brandon Deriso, From Concert Promoter to Open Mic Studios and the RenoCast Podcast
What December 12 Actually Proves
If WFC were neutral:
It would have chosen a different date
It would not mirror the GOP branding
It would not compete directly for the same political audience
The fact that it:
Duplicated the date
Duplicated the format
Duplicated the target audience
Is operating from a candidate-owned property means one thing:
WFC is now an open organizational challenge to the Washoe GOP.
Summary of The Three Real Republican Power Layers in Washoe
Formal Party Authority
Washoe GOP
WCRCC
Independent Ideological Clubs
Republican Women of Reno
Mt. Rose Republican Women
Shadow Coalitions & Data Controllers
Washoe Freedom Coalition
Former Washoe Patriots infrastructure
Remove
The Strategic Reality for Eddie Lorton
As of now, it appears that Eddie Lorton is:
❌ Not endorsed by Washoe GOP
✅ Financially and materially supporting WFC
✅ Loyal to Kate Vineyard and Debbie Hudgens
✅ Hosting shadow-coalition events on his property
✅ Being publicly labeled “far-right” by observers
That places him in a historically difficult campaign configuration:
Running inside a party electorate while opposing the party’s formal structure.
Conclusion
The Washoe GOP retains exclusive authority over formal Republican endorsements.
The Washoe Freedom Coalition operates as a political shadow network — hosting candidates, controlling email lists, but disclaimed by the party.
RedMove bridges candidates into that shadow space.
Washoe Patriots is dormant — but its infrastructure lives on through WFC.
Eddie Lorton has now materially aligned with the shadow network via event venue and affiliation.
The December 12 event marks the first visible, documented collision between the official party and its parallel rival structure.
Let the public shit show and squabbling commence... or perhaps continue. Take your pick.
This is why Republicans get their asses kicked time and time again.
The dinosaurs at the Washoe GOP think they are still relevant and in charge. The old school boys club, top-down hierarchy ended with Trump. The GOP lords may think they are powerful kingmakers, but they haven't made a king or queen in ages. They are simply bit players in this drama, just like all the other bit players. The Women's groups may be well intentioned, but also want their share of the limelight. The subgroups and splinter groups that come and go are likewise well intentioned, in that they want anyone OTHER than a Democrat to be elected, and they have their open carry meetings of 10 or 20 rabble rousers in bars and coffee shops. They remain a boisterous, powerful group of - oops - only 10 or 20. So they fade from view altogether. The gluers that desire to meld all the disparate groups into some unified Republican force have the right idea, but no power to really do that, and are met with resistance from all the self-centered groups.
And these 2 opposing egos that plan "fundraisers" on the same night, using the same graphic designs which look like they were printed at Kinkos? These are just 2 schoolboys having some "I'll show you/you hit me, i'll hit you/my dick is bigger than your dick" ego-driven tantrum. Petty is not a good look.
The fucking TRAGEDY of this of course is the the Democrats sit back and watch us self destruct and self-immolate. Like the Romneys and McCains. "We'll we fought the good fight and put on a good show; we'll get 'em next time!"
Are we really going to fiddle fuck around for months and hope/try to find some as yet undiscovered perfect candidate suitable to all and propel him or her to the fore?
Everyone SHOULD line up behind Eddie Lorton. Starting now. Unified front. All in for Eddie.
Perhaps Lorton is not perfect; perhaps he does not check ALL of your boxes... or your particular group's boxes.
But for Chrissakes he'd be better than any democrat.... And time's a wasting...
Two Christmas Parties, Same Night, Same Audience – True, True, False
Some say the Republican Party fights within itself, that is true of any group. In my experience the party promotes independent thinking which can be challenging when you have independent thinkers working together. Independent thinking also provides better results and more creative solutions to problems, and we wouldn’t have it any other way.
I am fairly well qualified to respond to this article since I happen to be the Vice-Chair of the Washoe GOP, a member of the Republican Women of Reno, an associate member of the Mt. Rose Republican Women, an associate member of the Incline Village-Crystal Bay Republican Women, the first VP of the Nevada Federation of Republican Women AND have attended many meetings of the Washoe Freedom Coalition.
The two Christmas parties on the same night is unfortunate but is a result of a busy December schedule and lack of available venues, it signifies no “rift” between “competing factions” within the Republican party.
The Washoe GOP party is a free event for our members to celebrate the holidays. The Washoe Freedom Coalition date is a fund-raiser, and they selected the date and the flyer first. The cost of reprinting flyers was an expense that a good fund-raising organization could not justifiably incur. The “identical template” issue was an honest error due to the fact that both organizations use the same program for their flyers and this template was one of the first templates to come up when “Christmas Holiday Flyers” was entered into the search bar. Not an insidious plot to split the party. Sorry, I know “insidious plot” makes for a more interesting article.
Same audience? Not exactly, many members of one club are not members of the other, but I do know people who are members of both organizations and are attending BOTH events. And the Washoe GOP promoted both events to our members. With different flyers… since we work out and resolve issues.
The Republican Women of Reno club and the Washoe Freedom Coalition are led by two hard-working and dynamic women that put more effort into the “cause” than most people put into their full-time jobs. Don’t disparage them.
The Republican Women’s lunch and dinner events (when did you last attend one?) generate a group of 70-80 people. Sounds like enthusiasm and reasonable influence to me. And the Washoe GOP has a very hard-working and dedicated group of members who put untold hours into the Legislative session this year, three elections in 2024, and many conservative issues within the state of Nevada.
Our goal in all of these organizations is to work together to get conservatives into office and common sense legislation enacted. If you want the inside scoop on any of these groups feel free to call me, it makes more sense (if in fact, you are conservative) for us to be working together vs. against each other.