Who issues a call for nomination after the nominee has been selected?
By Guest Post | Saturday, July 2nd, 2011 | PoliticsBy Tucker Watkins
Someone needs to explain the strange turn of events now going on in the 22nd House of Delegates District. Kathy Byron, who has held the seat since 1998 and who has had no opposition in the last four elections, filed her paperwork to select a primary as the method of nomination and as the only person who filed as a candidate was declared as the Republican Candidate by her the legislative district chairman Rick Boyer and the State Board of Elections. Now that same legislative district chairman, a newly minted lawyer but longtime Republican has posted a call in the Lynchburg newspaper for a legislative district Convention. As far as I can tell this has never been done before and has no legal standing. Boyer was supposedly a strong backer of Byron who supported him strongly when he ran for Clerk of Court last year in a campaign he lost by over twenty points.
Where in the law does Boyer see this as proper procedure? Why would he pick his long time ally to go after in this way ?
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14 Responses to "Who issues a call for nomination after the nominee has been selected?"
I’ve been trying to figure this one out too. The only thing I can imagine is that, by calling for a convention or mass meeting, he can now sue himself to challenge the process of incumbents selecting the process of nomination. I think he hopes that the lawsuit reaches the Virginia Supreme Court where he will argue against himself that it needs to be overturned.
Either way, he wins… and loses.
This would be beyond bizarre- if it wasn’t done by the sui generis (thank goodness) Rick Boyer, Esq., who has made a life of strange or stupid behavior.
Code of Virginia Section 24.2-509 B. clearly compels the Party Committee for a General Assembly seat to select the method of nomination requested by its incumbent member. Kathy Byron said primary. Rick must select a primary, and he did…but didn’t?
Seems like the way to cause a legal challenge was before certifying a primary and naming Kathy Byron as the nominee. If Rick and his committee had sent in a mass meeting as their method of nomination then Kathy would have had to sue him.
That is how you challenge the law, not this bozo way. But again, we are dealing with Rick Boyer.
If the call was intentional and not a mistake this is bizarre.
Va. Code s. 24.2-509 was declared all but unconstitutional in Miller v. Brown II before the Fourth Circuit in 2007
To properly bring the challenge, as not tim said, the call should have been issued before the candidate filing deadline for the nomination. The call also needed to be issued with the approval of the district committee.
It would take hours for me to explain the details here but if you want to plow through the Miller v. Brown ruling from the second appeal to see the law it can be found here.
http://caselaw.findlaw.com/us-4th-circuit/1046778.html
In addition to my own name being on the case for the challengers, you might notice some other familiar names.
Is it becoming more clear why the Republican Party in Campbell County is in such disarray? Any wonder why four prime candidates for election from the party have chosen to run as Independents rather than deal with a local party that is being dissolved from within from such “leadership” as Boyer? Such a shame that one person has wrought such a situation.
If this is how Boyer treats his “friends” it is easy to see why he has no compulsion in the methods he uses to “go after” his “enemies.”
pprados,
Did you say Va. Code s. 24.2-509 was UNconstitutional?
Ron F.
I said “Va. Code s. 24.2-509 was declared all but unconstitutional.” There is no direct statement by any court of unconstitutionality, only an implication in the case cited above. This statute has been awaiting a lawsuit for four years. If I have the facts correct from the Byron Boyer situation, we will probably be waiting until at least 2013 for such a (potentially successful) lawsuit.
Just curious. Why would an uncontested candidate want a primary?
uncontested candidate chooses a primary. then no one else qualifies to run in the primary (cause the race is uncontested). then the primary is not held. case closed! the uncontested candidate is THE nominee!
Plus, Darrell, it’s harder to beat an incumbent in a primary vs a convention or mass meeting, mostly because of name money, recognition and money. So, if you are wanting to make it easier to win the nomination for reelection if you are challenged, you choose primary.
Wait- help me with something,
1. The Boyer’s hate primaries. They support convention, canvass, mass meeting-you know, to elect the “most conservative” candidate, because primaries are favored by liberals, compromisers, those with no values, etc- and denounce those that support primaries. They hated the Unit Chairmen who voted for a primary for 2010. They attacked Robert Hurt for favoring a primary. That was proof that Hurt was a moderate.
2. The Boyers love Kathy Byron, saying many times she is the best and most conservative members of the GA, next to the great Bob Marshall. Not a liberal, etc, etc, etc.
3. Kathy Byron wanted a primary.
Doesn’t that call into question everything we thought we knew about Kathy Byron? Isn’t she now a person of the left? A compromiser? A RINO? I dare say, not a patriot? Was she always?
Where is the outrage? Where are the protests?
Is this weak attempt by Mr. Boyer, Esq. all we get?
Of course, it could be that there is nothing liberal or conservative about Primaries and the Boyers are, as they are almost all the time, full of crap.
Again, I need somebody’s help with this.
Bob Marshall, as the incumbent, also chose and always has a primary for the nomination. Is he a Rino, Moderate, Squishy, etc.?
So have I got this straight? Incumbents select a primary that allows Dems to vote for Republicans, which essentially means that Incumbents are really Independents running against Republican challengers for the right to run against Democrats.
Unless they lose the primary, in which case they run as Independents against both parties. No wonder politicians have such a dim view of the RPV.
someone weigh in to help me with the actual wording of the law. Darrell, if a Republican (or Democrat) incumbent chooses a primary (as virtually all of them do), yet for some unseen reason lose this primary, then are prevented from running in that particular election.
Kelly,
That would be correct. The drop dead date for parties to select and name their official nominee to the general election is at the close of the polls (7pm in VA) on primary day. To run as an independent the candidate would have to file the necessary signatures and petitions by that 7pm time also. Not likely if you are running in the state run primary. When parties use a method other than a state run primary, convention,firehouse primary, or mass meeting, a loser could run as an independent assuming they can file by the above primary date and time.
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