Breaking: It’ll be a primary in the 5th
By JR Hoeft | Saturday, December 12th, 2009 | PoliticsSources tell BD that the decision was made today that voters will decide the GOP nominee in the 5th District in a primary, going against the wishes of all the candidates except State Sen. Robert Hurt.
Update: Verga has the first statement….
“A primary will place an unnecessary burden upon localities, costing them thousands of dollars at a time when their budgets are already overly stretched.
“Based upon the current shape of the field, the primary will likely be won by a candidate with less than 20% of the vote, with Democratic voters potentially deciding the race.
Today only strengthens my resolve to run a vigorous grassroots campaign against the establishment and their preferred candidate, so that I may be able to fight for the conservative principles and values of the citizens of the 5th District in Washington.”
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Conservative to the core; liberal with his opinion! J.R. has been involved in politics for over a decade and has worked on several campaigns in Hampton Roads. He has served on the Executive Committee of the Republican Party of Chesapeake and the Central Committee of the Republican Party of Virginia. He is also the director of “Blogs United” in Virginia. E-mail J.R.. Follow J.R. on Twitter.
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22 Responses to "Breaking: It’ll be a primary in the 5th"
I wanted a convention.
Anyone who think moderate Republicans win in this environment has another thing coming.
a primary ensures that every Republican gets a say – including military personal and others deployed overseas. Just what Mr. Verga has against everyone being able to vote is beyond me. I would rather have localities have an “unnecessary burden” than any Republican not be able to have their say in this.
It also insures that an overwhelming majority of Republicans will have not voted for the winner.
Brian: A majority, maybe, but I wouldn’t say overwhelmingly so… besides, at a convention, the overwhelming majority of Republicans wouldn’t have even been there.
Disclaimer: I was pro-convention.
Anyone who uses the term “tea baggers” on this blog to describe a movement that is pursuing freedom, personal responsibility, and individual achievement will get their comment deleted. You know that the term has sexual innuendo and is meant as an insult. It’s the “Tea Party” movement.
I am glad the 5th chose a Primary, as it was the best way to go. A primary allows a candidate(s) to reach out to the entire voting universe rather than 1,000 delegates. Today, the 5th District, under the leadership of Tucker Watkins made the right call. I hope other units will follow suit, too.
The current wisdom is that the primary favors Hurt, though that doesn’t have to be true come May or June. (& as a disclaimer, I am a Hurt supporter).
Let me make this point: I am involved in a fundraiser for Hurt. But the fundraiser could be for any of the candidates for the main reason that many are outraged, tired & afraid of what Congress is doing. Of the invitees to this fundraiser, only 3 or 4 would go to a convention (not everyone is an active identified Republican). But the rest of these invitees are very much interested in the outcome. Shouldn’t they be allowed to vote?
Kelley, if they “choose” not to go to a convention, that doesn’t mean they aren’t being “allowed” to vote.
Your argument is false. If I choose not to vote on Tuesdays, that doesn’t mean primaries don’t allow me to vote. That means I choose not to participate. It’s my responsibility.
Your friends might be interested in the outcome, but if they want a say in the outcome, it involves choosing to get on the field and playing. No touchdowns were ever scored in the stands.
I think this year’s Republican convention had good results, don’t you?
Brian, My comment was not articulated well. There are many concerned people here in the 5th: I’ll use some Electric co-op people as an example (the cap ‘n trade vote by Perriello was horrible in their view). these voters don’t want to join their county Republican parties & be a convention delegate. they leave that to me & those of our committees. But they are very concerned about who will challenge Perriello.
Are there good Christians who don’t attend church? (too strong, I know, but illustrates my point)
As a Republican, I’m playing with the cards as dealt. A primary allows for the max. participation. and to beat Perriello, we will have to have the max participation.
and yes, our convention produced 3 strong candidates. no denying that.
no need arguing anymore about it. die is cast.
As a fifth district voter i dont care either way about a primary or a convention i care about getting TP out of office and having someone who represents our views.
and its a bit of a misnomer that our convention “produced” our three candidates. The McDonnell-Bolling deal of 08 produced 2/3 of our ticket and Ken would have beaten Brownlee convnetion or primary.
And Brian, its not that easy to just “chose” to be a convention delegate. There is a protocol that most people might not know, and they might not even be interested in getting involved locally but they want to make sure they have a say on who the candidate is. That is what this primary ensures.
Regardless of “moderate vs. centrist”; the 2nd District has the highest concentration of military servicemen in nation. A primary is the only method of nomination that allows our brave men and women serving overseas, away for reserve duty or out-of-district training that allows them to participate via an absentee ballot.
You can’t vote absentee ballot in a canvass or a convention, and during a time of war we should always make it easier for our military personnel to participate in the GOP.
Chris, you have absolutely no way to demonstrate who would win a primary that didn’t happen. But thanks for playing.
I’ve found it rather easy to vote in a convention. If you have been turned away from one, please tell us when and why?
right on Aaron: let’s get rid of tiny Tom P. and to vbfirstlanding: my brother served 20 years Army so I understand the absentee ballot issue. very good point on why a primary would allow servicepeople access to the nomination process.
Until Virginia goes to a closed primary system ALL Republican nominations should be done in convention – period. It is not difficult to be a delegate to a convention, especially one in a district, they only last one day and are always held on a Saturday. Real party politics and sorting out ideology takes place at a convention, not in a primary. I had never participated in a convention until 2 years ago, now I swear by them. I wish all political candidates were chosen this way.
The “Do it for the absentee voters” was a complete spin-job. The main motivation of the committee to select a primary was their knowledge that Hurt was the only candidate of the group to start the game against Perriello at a 50-50 tossup.
I have never been turned away, but why not just let everyone interest in the race vote? To me, and this is just me, conventions project a sort of elitism in the party – that only “certain” Republicans can nominate candidates. Some people can’t make it, some people don’t have time, some people just don’t know. Most people have a 1,000 things in their lives and just can’t do it. It doesn’t make them bad Republicans (nor do I think you think that), but a primary allows everyone who wants to vote to vote.
Your right, I have no idea to prove how a primary would have worked out but I am convinced that Ken’s strength all over the state would have clearly won out, especially since the anti-Ken vote was split between Foster and Brownlee.
If you want Republicans to spend 6 months spending BIG $$$$$$$$ against each other, choose a primary.
If you want to wind up like McAuliffe, Deeds and Moran, have a primary.
all I know is the last two presidents when through tough primaries and it made them and their campaigns stronger for it.
Actually, they went through tough caucuses too.
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