In today’s convention elections for Congressional District Chairmen for the Republican Party of Virginia – and the nomination contest in the 9th and a straw poll in the 8th – stability was the name of the day.
In the 3rd, 6th, 8th, 9th and 10th districts, strong party candidates walked away with no problem. And, in the 8th district, for a congressional straw poll, Matthew Berry won the contest as if no one else was running against him.
In the 3rd, Mike Wade remains the party chairman.
In the 6th, long time party activist Trixie Averill becomes the chairman.
In the 8th, Michael Ginsberg signs-on for another two years.
In the 9th, Morgan Griffith, who was endorsed by Bearing Drift, walked away with the GOP nomination for Congress.
And, in the 10th, Howie Lind, who was endorsed by both Attorney General Ken “Not in my Commonwealth” Cuccinelli and Rep. Joe “You Lie” Wilson (R-SC) won.
Additionally, Matthew Berry, also endorsed by Bearing Drift, easily carried the straw poll at the 8th District Convention by 69% to 31% margin (approximately 91 to 41).
What is most interesting about the 8th is that Patrick Murray, Berry’s opposition, says that he’s against partial birth and federal funding for abortion, still won’t say that he is pro-life.
Speaking about the win, Averill says:
I truly appreciate the participation from all who came and voted for either me or my opponent because being involved in the process is where it all starts….Now we should all come together to do the job we are here for: to elect our nominated Republican candidates. The 6th District stands ready to re-elect Rep. Bob Goodlatte, and to help Morgan Griffith in the 9th and whoever wins the primary in the 5th, to start taking our country back pronto!!
Wade said:
“Today was a great victory for our conservative principles. I am eternally greatful to Chris Woodfin, Stephen Tyndall, my wife, Suzanne and boys, who without their support I could not win. My opposition ran quite a negative campaign, but thankfully the lies didn’t stick. I must say that these folks need to put our principles and party ahead of the losses they owe only to themselves. I am ready to do the job and we begin full steam to remove the second most liberal congressman Bobby Scott. I thank all my suuporters and to those who didn’t I say I am sorry but the truth will always prevail.”
When you combine these wins with Gary Byler’s win in the 2nd and Bill Stanley’s victory in the 5th, it appears that the GOP in Virginia is very stable with longtime party activists continuing to manage the districts, while at the same time bringing new energy and enthusiasm to the base.
Speaking about today’s nomination of Morgan Griffith, Garren Shipley, Spokesman for the Republican Party of Virginia said:
“We’re thrilled with the energy and unity we saw at the 9th District convention. Lots of people, lots of energy on hand. Any convention that produces posters with the Democrat’s face pasted over Darth Vader’s is a high-energy convention. We had great candidates, and in the end our team coalesced around Morgan Griffith. Now that we have our nominee, RPV is going to do everything possible to help send Rick Boucher back to Abingdon to get reacquainted with Southwest Virginia values.”
