Republican Pete Snyder of Fairfax County made his candidacy for lieutenant governor official today, joining a still-growing field of candidates for the 2013 GOP nomination.

Snyder, a successful social media marketing executive, chaired the Republican Party’s coordinated campaign in Virginia during the 2012 election cycle. He was founder and CEO of New Media Strategies, an Arlington-based social media marketing agency and also has been a Fox News commentator.

“The technology company that booted up in my kitchen over a decade ago created hundreds of high-paying Virginia jobs over the years, and founded an entirely new industry worldwide,” Snyder said in a news release this afternoon. “I learned that big ideas, constant innovation and putting customers first drives growth and prosperity. As Lieutenant Governor, I’ll apply those lessons so we reform and transform our education system, make Virginia number one in the nation in new job creation and stop the rush to higher taxes and job-killing regulation.”

In the aftermath of an election that saw President Barack Obama win Virginia and re-election, Snyder said, “We need to fix our country and our party.”

“We’ve gone from Ronald Reagan’s Big Tent to something more resembling a pup tent,” Snyder said in his written statement. “Some say capitulation and higher taxes are the answer. I think that is dead wrong. We need to double down on our conservative principles and work to win hearts and minds with big, bold, new ideas like Education Reform that will help Virginia to lead again.”

If you’re keeping score at home, Snyder is the sixth Republican candidate to announce for lieutenant governor, joining State Del. Scott Lingamfelter of Prince William County, state Sen. Steve Martin of Chesterfield County, Prince William County Board of Supervisors Chairman Corey Stewart, Stafford County Supervisor Susan Stimpson, and former state Sen. Jeannemarie Davis of Fairfax County. E.W. Jackson of Chesapeake, an unsuccessful candidate for the GOP U.S. Senate nomination this year, plans to announce his bid for lieutenant governor this week.

Republicans will select their statewide ticket at a convention next year. The incumbent lieutenant governor, Republican Bill Bolling, is running for governor.

Democrat Aneesh Chopra, the former chief technology officer in the Obama administration, also is running for lieutenant governor. State Sen. Ralph Northam, D-Norfolk, is considering running for the job and Roanoke Mayor David Bowers also has been giving it some thought. The lieutenant governor presides over the Senate and breaks tie votes in the chamber, which is evenly split between Republicans and Democrats.

– Michael Sluss