As the GOP is still reeling from last week’s electoral loss, young Republicans in D.C. were celebrating the future of the conservative movement at the third annual Buckley Awards ceremony, held at The Capitol Hill Club on Wednesday night.
The Young Conservatives Coalition hosts the event and selects winners — ages 18-40 — based on their “significant achievements in advancing the conservative movement in the past year,” according to the Facebook event page. The Buckley Awards are named after the late William F. Buckley Jr., the conservative author and commentator who founded National Review. In 2010, when the Buckleys were started, 10 individuals were honored. Since then, five people have been selected each year.
This 2012 Buckley Award winners are:
Katie Pavlich – Townhall.com, News Editor and author of ‘Fast & Furious‘
Lila Rose – Live Action, President
Heather Sexton Pfitzenmaier – Heritage Foundation, Young Leaders Program Director
Alex Schriver – College Republican National Committee, National Chairman
Patrick Coyle – Young America’s Foundation, Vice President
Red Alert Politics spoke to several of the winners, who expressed how excited they were to win. Coyle said it was an honor to receive an award named after William F. Buckley, Jr., especially since he has worked with organizations closely tied to Buckley and had the opportunity to hear him speak several times. Pfitzenmaier was equally honored. “It’s always humbling and exciting to receive an award or accolades for the work that you’ve done,” she said. Schriver gave a shout-out to the other award winners in an email to Red Alert, and expressed the importance of this particular award. “This award is special as it comes from my peers — other young conservatives fighting every day for the movement,” he said.
More than 200 people attended this year’s awards event.
