Virginia’s Republican party has decided to hold a nominating convention rather than a primary to select its statewide candidates for next year’s election.

The decision prompted gubernatorial candidate Amanda Chase — a controversial state senator — to declare she would run as an independent. Chase said it was “the only way to bypass the political consultants and the Republican establishment elite.”

Now, Chase has reversed course. In a Facebook video posted on Friday, Chase declared she will run as a Republican. “I’m going to fully seek the Republican nomination. I’m not going to run as an independent,” Chase said. While still advocating for a primary, she conceded that if she ran as an independent, it could split the vote and allow the Democratic candidate to win.

Members of the GOP central committee convened a virtual meeting Saturday where they voted to hold the convention.

Only two major Republican candidates have declared their intent to run for governor: Chase and Kirk Cox, a delegate from Colonial Heights and the former Virginia House speaker. Several others are exploring runs.

Outgoing Rep. Denver Riggleman, who has been vocal in his criticism of Republicans who fail to challenge baseless conspiracies about the election, is exploring a run, potentially as an independent. Riggleman called the party a “raging dumpster fire” on Twitter Saturday after the decision.

Cox sharply criticized Chase’s plan to run as an independent at the time, stating that her “antics have long grown more than tiresome.”

“Her threat to run as an independent is based solely on the fact that she knows principled, conservative Republicans will never tolerate the demagogue she has become,” Cox said in a statement. “She could participate in this nomination contest, but instead she will fade from relevance as loyal Republicans continue to focus on putting our conservative principles to work solving the challenges people face daily in this Commonwealth under weak and misguided Democratic rule.”

Chase has pushed unfounded conspiracies about voter fraud and said Gov. Ralph Northam was trying to appease “the left-wing mob” and “erase all white history” by taking down a statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee in Richmond.

Republicans spent hours debating the choice between a primary and a convention. Some members argued a primary was the most accessible process that would ensure the largest number of rank-and-file voters could participate. Others worried that with a large field, a candidate could win the nomination with only a plurality of the vote.

Some Virginia Republicans see hope in 2021 after years of stinging defeats — a Republican has not won statewide office in Virginia in more than a decade. Some Democrats worry there are limits to Virginia’s “blue wave.” But Joe Biden easily won Virginia by 10 points, nearly double Hillary Clinton’s margin in the state.