Today was the Republican 6th Senate District Nominating Convention in Norfolk,VA. The contest was between Dr.Joanne Lapetina and Ben Loyola. In the end, it came down to delegate turnout, as Loyola barely carried the day with his support from the Eastern Shore.
Quick recent history of the 6th District: in 1999 the seat was held by longtime Democrat and Senate Majority Leader Stanley Walker. In that historic campaign, Nick Rerras was able to defeat Walker, which was critical in helping the GOP gain the majority in both seats of the General Assembly – the first time since Reconstruction. Rerras represented the 6th through 2007; but, for various reasons, Rerras was not elected to a 3rd term and, once again, the state senate switched party control.
With Ralph Northam only being a freshman incumbent, Republicans at the convention were eager to nominate someone who would restore the seat to GOP hands and regain the far too brief majority Republicans once possessed.
Just about any time, anyone expressed the phrase, “fire Ralph Northam,” or “take back the Senate” or “give Bob McDonnell a majority”, the entire delegation erupted in applause.
Governor McDonnell sent a note to the convention lamenting that commonsense legislation is passed in the House, only to be defeated by Democrats in the Senate. He promised delegates that he looks “forward to campaigning with whoever is nominated today and working with them when they serve in the Senate.”
The convention drew hundreds of people from Norfolk, Virginia Beach, and the Eastern Shore; but, by far, the largest contingent was from Norfolk.
Also attending were the 2012 U.S. Senate campaigns. Del. Chris Stolle (representing George Allen), U.S. Senate candidates Tim Donner and David McCormick attended in person and video messages were sent from Jamie Radtke and E.W. Jackson. Donner’s speech was very energetic and he represented himself well – mixing in not only enthusiastic support for delegates and their efforts to “beat Ralph Northam”, but also effective points about his campaign and the national picture. E.W. Jackson’s video failed to work.
Before the convention, the Loyola campaign was openly concerned about the amount of support Dr. Lapetina had in the city of Norfolk. They were of the opinion that if Norfolk went 60-40, it was quite conceivable that Dr. Lapetina would win the race, given the weight of the vote.
The credentials committee reported the following votes:
• Norfolk had 97.468 delegate votes
• Accomack had 50.184 delegate votes
• Matthews had 20.38 delegate votes
• VaBeach had 4.66 delegate votes
• Northampton had 16.060 delegate votes
The Loyola campaign had quite a bit of visible support during the floor show – especially from Team Rigell (the congressman endorsed Loyola). But observing Norfolk, it looked liked there were many folks who chose to fold their arms or sit on their hands. Exactly the opposite when Dr. Lapetina was speaking.
In the end, Lapetina carried Norfolk with the raw tally 115-86 – or 57%-43%, but that wasn’t enough to win. She stated afterwards that she needed four delegates from the Eastern Shore to have shown up and she would have won the campaign.
“Norfolk came for me today,” she said.
She graciously conceded the race to Loyola by moving that he be the party’s nominee by acclimation.
Now, Loyola, who doesn’t have strong ties to Norfolk, will have to invest the next four months heavily in the city, trying to convince many Reagan Democrats that he is the right man to represent them in Richmond over Sen. Ralph Northam.
This is the 27th Republican nominee to be selected for the upcoming 2011 General election in the State Senate. In the end, there will be 35 Republicans running in 40 State Senate seats. Democrats only managed to muster 24 candidates to defend their 22-18 seat majority.
