Republican chairs in the 20th picked Dickie Bell to replace Del. Chris Saxman who shocked the local political scene when he took himself out of the game. About 100 party faithful attended a forum at Buffalo Gap HS where the seven candidates gave cloned answers to questions on taxes, gays, abortion... same old GOP grist. Then the chairs picked who they (and Del. Saxman?) apparently wanted all along. Is it the same person local Republican voters want? Bell, who is currently on Staunton City Council and has occasionally bolted from the majority (and some would say common sense), faces Democrat Erik Curren. Both have promised a clean and positive campaign.
As posted yesterday, Democrat Carter Turner will run in the 8th district. Turner is an assistant professor at Radford University and resident of the area since childhood. Turner was recently involved in efforts to block the asphalt plant coming to Glenvar. He called for bipartisan "solution oriented politics" and said he'll focus on the economy, education, and transportation. Turner replaces Ginny Weisz and will be formally nominated at a caucus tonight.
Across the mountain it is still game on in the fight to stop Walmart's invasion of the Wilderness Battlefield. The public hearing planned for last night was cancelled late in the day, or at least the word of the cancellation got out late in the day. So, you still have time to contact the Orange Co. Board of Supervisors and express your opposition to Walmart building on the edge of this national treasure. See earlier posts for links.
But it is game off for Virgil Goode who says he won't try to make a comeback in the 5th Congressional District. Goode lost a squeaker to Tom Periello and had overtly hinted he'd run in 2010. But, Goode apparently wasn't able to attract many donors or much enthusiasm for him to get back in the game.
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2 comments:
I was watching Chris Graham report on Facebook and Twitter last night from BGHS. I was sad to see the red meat issues (gays and aborition etc) come up, as if there are not more pressing problems.We must press on though.
About 9pm, while the forum was in full swing, I got a call from an old friend in the county, a liberal... hell, maybe radical is a better word. Anyhow, in spite of that, he's friends with one of the gentlemen not chosen. Said his friend didn't really connect with what you called the "red meat" Repubs, but that he'd say the right things on an outside shot to get the nomination (which he didn't expect). Sad when a party feels compelled to walk in lockstep. Of course, over on the Dem side... they take shots at each other.
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