Bloggers who have run for political office
By JR Hoeft | Wednesday, April 13th, 2011 | PoliticsIt amazes me what captivates political reporters for the Washington Post sometimes, but idle speculation about one of the state’s leading liberal bloggers, Ben Tribbett, and whether or not he is or isn’t running for public office, seems to have caught some sort of fascination today at the WaPO.
If Tribbett runs, he’ll be the second political blogger to jump into the fray after several years of commenting from the sidelines. Bearing Drift writer Brian Schoeneman is running against Del. David Bulova (D-Fairfax).
Not quite.
Del. Greg Habeeb blogged at roanokevalleyrepublicans.blogspot.com and was a periodic contributor to Bearing Drift…he has also stated today that he is running for re-election.
That’s just this year.
But it also got me to thinking about other bloggers who have run for political office or are contemplating doing so.
Rick Sincere ran for House of Delegates, and our own D.J. McGuire ran for Spotsylvania supervisor and Shaun Kenney ran and won to be the Vice Chair of Fluvanna County’s Board of Supervisors. We’re also honored to call former Del. Chris Saxman a Bearing Drift contributor.
Additionally, there are rumors that Jim Riley of Virginia Virtucon will be running for House of Delegates this year too.
I’d also be remiss not to mention Vivian Paige, who ran for Norfolk Treasurer.
So, this is hardly a new phenomena of bloggers running for public office. And I think that’s a difference that MSM fails to understand about bloggers – we’re not prone to sitting “on the sidelines.”
If I missed someone, I apologize. There’s always a danger when you start running down a list.
For what it’s worth, I wish Ben well. I just hope he’s serious about this and that it’s not a stunt. What some bloggers fail to realize is that their actions have an impact on the credibility of the entire medium.
Tags:
Contribute for Conservatism!
Share this post
About the author
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.
Comments
19 Responses to "Bloggers who have run for political office"
One more addition, JR. Miles Grant, who blogs with Lowell Feld and also on his own blog, ran in the Democratic primary for a delegate seat in Arlington County. Of course, he finished second from last in a field of four, so you can be forgiven for not remembering him.
Ben Tribbitt running is a surprise. He needs to remember the old adage, “friends come and go, but enemies accumulate.”
HisRoc,
Thanks for that. As I mentioned, listing names is always dangerous. I did remember him, but didn’t add him yet.
The other name not up there is Sen. Chap Petersen who is fairly consistent at Ox Road South.
Let’s not forget the very first — Chad Dotson who ran Commonwealth Conservative and was elected Commonwealth’s Attorney before being appointed a judge.
I think those of us who’ve taken the time to get involved enough that we’ve written on issue that matter make pretty good candidates – at the very least, we’re on the record with what we believe.
I hope Jim gets in the race, as I think he’d make a great candidate. And I am deeply grateful for all of my Bearing Drift colleagues and their support.
I ran for County School Board (twice) in PWC. Of course, it was years before I had a blog, or blogs were even widely known.
Never make that mistake again.
And if Ben does run, he’ll need to retire that hideous maroon suit.
Thanks for the kind comment Jim. I’m still undecided.
Franco -
I’d never forget, Chad. He set the standard. I’m writing/thinking about active bloggers now.
NLS -
Good luck with your decision.
JY –
You’d be great on the school board!
I encourage everyone to run and become an active participant in government. Bloggers are welcome! Good luck.
Was Peterson blogging before he was elected?
If we count electeds who started blogging afterward, former Del. Kris Amundson and Del. Bob Brink, had 7th Floor West, which was a good read during session.
I’m hoping Ben and Jim Riley get in so I can do a “Year of the Blogger” story. Anythings better than having to write about redistricting yet again.
Brian S,
You are the kind of guy a person like me might support if you were running in office in my area. However after visiting your campaign website, I have some questions and comments.
Transportation:
Is the amount of local sales tax revenue you propose be returned to Northern Virginia 0.25% or 25%? One is a pittance and the other extremely significant. If it is the latter, good luck getting that one passed. If 25% of urban areas (Richmond and Hampton Roads will want to be included) are removed from the General Fund, either cuts or tax increases are going to have to be implemented to deal with the lost revenue to the Commonwealth. Perhaps you can clear up the confusion by making it clear whether you are speaking of 0.25% of the 5.0% or 25% of the total resulting revenue from the 5.0% sales tax. I still give you 4 out of 5 thumbs up! No mention of 3P (Public Private Partnerships) or even Gov’mint tolls as part of your solution. To get the 5th thumb you need to say that if any tax (or if you prefer to describe the tax burden as tolls or fees have at it) is increased to finance transportation it needs to be in the form of a fuel tax increase.
Jobs and the Economy:
Pretty sparse pickings on that issue, but one of ideas you highlight grabs the gold ring. Your idea is to reform the BPOL (Business, Professional and Occupational License) tax which every business must pay on gross receipts even if they lose money. Businesses should be taxed on profits, not losses. This is more of a local issue then a state issue, but support in the state House is not a bad thing. This idea seems to have caught hold in Hampton Roads and any support we can get from Northern Virginia would be appreciated. 5 thumbs up.
Fiscal Discipline:
You state in speaking to your voters, those being in Northern Virginia: “Our high wages and high property values generate more tax revenue for the Commonwealth than anywhere else in Virginia.” OK on the high wages but delete the property values thing. What Northern Virginia does with their revenue from property taxes is up to the locals since Richmond has nothing to do with property tax rates. Suddenly my hand which was all thumbs as I type this seems to be absent even a single one.
I wish you luck. If you were running down here in Hampton Roads I would encourage you to run as a Blue Dog Democrat. At least then you would have a label you could be proud of instead of trying to convince your fellow Republican party members you are not a RINO (Republican In Name Only).
Shaun Kenney also ran (unsuccessfully) for the Republican nomination in the 54th district against Bobby Orrock back in 2005.
LD, the .25% is .25% of the 5% sales tax. It’s a modest start, but it would provide some necessary funding that our localities could use supplement our efforts. Coupled with the goal of returning secondary road control to localities, it helps get us to where we need to be, which is in ending the centralized planning of infrastructure that has resulted in the gridlock we face now.
On the property values thing, the more money we generate locally that stays local, the less we need from Richmond. Whatever surplus we generate ends up going elsewhere in the Commonwealth to subsidize areas that pay less in property taxes than we do. By keeping our costs down, Northern Virginia won’t end up getting the short end of the stick because we’re paying far more into the General Fund than we’re getting out of it.
I’m a Republican – no desire to be anything else. I think most of my Republican friends can accept that I have my personal take on some issues some may consider to be unorthodox, but sometimes we need outside-the-box thinking to get us where we need to be.
JR,
Brian Kirwin ran for the Virginia Beach School Board in 2000.
Brain S,
It is my understanding that your proposal would not even be sufficient to pay for the improvement of even a single interchange up there in Northern Virginia. You people up there need major help, not band aids.
Virginia needs to increase the fuel tax by at least 10 cents a gallon. Our state has pressing demands that need to be met and we are not going to solve the problem by sitting on our hands while we scream “no tax increases”. You get what you pay for, and if you want a first class transportation system you have to pay the price.
Here’s another one: Kurt Michael
http://www.newsleader.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2011104140323
Thanks, Jim. My prospective constituents disagreed. Morons.
James,
That might be the funniest comment I have read in some time.
James Young on election night……
Mr. Burns: This anonymous clan of slack-jawed troglodytes has cost me the election, and yet if I were to have them killed, I would be the one to go to jail. That’s democracy for you.
Smithers: You are noble and poetic in defeat, sir.
Leave your response
The comments section is for meaningful discussion. Readers are reminded to post comments that are germane to the article and write in a common language that steers clear of personal attacks and/or vulgarities.
Please take a moment to review our comment policy.