Gilmore Suspends Communications Director
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Gilmore For Senate communication director Ana Gamonal was suspended for two weeks without pay after trying to sign up for Mark Warner’s email list under a false name:
Dick Leggitt, Gilmore’s senior strategist, said Gamonal sent an email to Warner’s campaign under a false name and asked to be put on the Democrat’s email list. Leggitt said Warner campaign officials confronted Gamonal after they learned her real identity.
Gamonal told Leggitt and other Gilmore advisers about the incident earlier today. Gilmore decided to suspend Gamonal without pay.
“Governor Gilmore is all about transparency,” Leggitt said. “We don’t deceive people. We don’t pretend we are something we are not so it is not the kind of thing we want anyone on our staff doing.”
What’s especially embarrassing is that she used her personal email account to try and join the list, using a false name in the signature:
From: Ana Gamonal de Navarro [mailto:********@cox.net]
Sent: Thursday, September 18, 2008 10:15 PM
To: Emily Kryder
Subject: please add me to your press listMs. Kryder,
I am a free lance writer for several of the local Spanish language papers here in Virginia. Could you please add me to your distribution list for press releases.
Thank you,
Alexis Navarro
Not smart.
Both the Gilmore and Warner campaigns have handled this very well, Gilmore only giving a suspension, Warner accepting her apology and looking “forward to seeing her back out on the campaign trail.” It certainly doesn’t help Gilmore, going into the final seven or so weeks of the campaign and having to deal with in-house issues like this.
on 
What I’d like to know is what does it matter?
Not that I am giving a free pass to doing something under false pretenses, but a press release is just, effectively, an announcement.
And, with most campaigns, officials, organizations posting the releases on-line, it’s a matter of public record pretty quickly anyway.
Shoot, the whole point of a press release is to make it public record.
Almost as a matter of courtesy, I’d send my releases to the opposition. It almost says, “Here’s how I think you’re campaign is wrong today…”
I agree with Jason, it’s good to see that the whole incident is being handled very professionally by both sides. My commendations to both the Warner and Gilmore campaigns.
And JR, the only reason it matters is Gamonal’s half-baked attempt at disguising her identity. If she had just subscribed as herself none of us would be commenting on it.
It’s almost as bad as saying during a debate that you won’t raise taxes, and then once you’re elected, raise them through the roof.
Jeremy…I’m not an idiot. I understand why it matters, otherwise I would have never written “Not that I am giving a free pass to doing something under false pretenses”.
My point is it shouldn’t matter. We’re agreeing. She should have just asked for the releases under her own name.
If the Warner campaign really was concerned about issuing releases to the opposition, we would be asking a different question: what about their message are they trying to keep from the opposition?
Which, actually, is the question I am asking because I’ve requested releases from the Warner campaign and they haven’t put me on their distro yet.
I’ve asked twice now.
Have one our left leaning writers request to be added and then we will see if they are refusing to add you because of your political leanings.
But in the end, dumb move by the Comm Director. Deserve the suspension.
It does kind of sound like James Bond sneaking into SPECTRE headquarters not wearing any pants… he would tend to stick out a bit.
But yeah it’s not like the Press Releases are any sort of top secret information… they’re passed around like plates at Golden Corral. Does it make the Gilmore campaign seem to have an edge of impropriety… perhaps but there are far more vital issues that are deserving of the public’s attention.
Another disappointing aspect to a hopeless campaign.
The nomination process was very flawed in this instance. Eric Canter would have been the candidate we need even if not as fiscally conservative as some would like.