Last Saturday at the Republican Party of Virginia’s annual Advance Convention held in Williamsburg, Wendy Borcherdt of McLean was named Volunteer of the Year!
Wendy will turn 90 next April, and to call her a dynamo is putting it mildly. She moved to Virginia shortly before COVID hit and was very active in Glenn Youngkin’s 2021 campaign. Since August 2020, she has worked 53 shifts as a Greeter for the Fairfax GOP during every election season, which does not include the numerous times she worked as a dedicated poll watcher.
Wendy is a native of California, attended Stanford University, and graduated with a degree in political science and English in 1958. In 1971, she and Clare Booth Luce were the first women appointed to the Hoover Board of Overseers at Stanford University, when the board consisted of only 15 members. She continues to serve on that Board and is now a Distinguished Overseer.
She has been active in Republican Party politics at the local, state, and national levels since she was a young girl. It’s in her blood. Wendy was a volunteer in every Ronald Reagan political campaign, beginning in 1976 and was a staff member for the 1980 Presidential Campaign, where she served as the Deputy National Finance Director to the Reagan for President campaign.
Wendy joined the White House Presidential Personnel staff in February 1981, responsible for recruiting and selecting women for Executive Branch positions and recruiting ambassadorial candidates. In September 1981 she moved to the Office of Public Liaison, as the first Public Liaison appointee, specifically assigned to women and women’s groups.
In 1985, Wendy left service with the Reagan Administration, at the request of the President, to become Executive Director of the Citizens for the Republic, a non-profit fundraising and conservative education organization, founded by President Reagan to support conservative candidates nationwide. While he was the Governor of California in the 1990’s, Pete Wilson appointed Wendy as one of the few non-lawyers to the California Bar Association, where she served for 6 years. Over the course of 25 years, she sent in excess of 10,000 personal letters, making ballot recommendations for both primary and general elections, to help get conservative candidates elected in California.
She recently did an interview with Kevin Gentry for his podcast called Going Big. It is an hour long, but fascinating, and in it Wendy shares many personal insights about President Reagan.
Wendy Borcherdt is an inspiration to everyone in Fairfax County who is fortunate enough to know her. She worked 12 shifts as a greeter during early voting this year and signed up for 3 greeter shifts on Election Day. She also wrote hundreds of postcards, urging voters to cast their ballots. The photo below was Wendy passing out sample ballots at Langley High School on November 4th. In addition to being an amazing lady and a true patriot, Wendy has been a trailblazer for most of her life. We are blessed in Fairfax County by her enthusiasm, energy, and devotion to the Republican Party.
Congratulations Wendy Borcherdt on being named the Republican Party of Virginia’s 2025 Volunteer of the Year!