Villanueva – Working Hard and Leading
By Brian Kirwin | Sunday, November 6th, 2011 | PoliticsOne of the less talked-about races in the area is the sole House of Delegates race in Virginia Beach.
Del. Ron Villanueva represents the 21st District in the heart of Virginia Beach. He was elected twice to City Council and beat back an extremely negative campaign by Bobby Mathieson to become Delegate.
Villanueva won by focusing on issues. He’s about to do so again.
He’s won over the Virginian-Pilot, who has endorsed him, the Chamber of Commerce, who endorsed him again this year as they did in 2007, and tons of other supporters. His opponent, a defense lawyer, has offered little more than attack advertising in mailboxes in a negative campaign funded by her uncle.
Del. Villanueva simply represents his district and gets legislation passed. He’s cosponsored legislation to help businesses create jobs. He’s supported energy solutions and transportation funding. He’s helped move forward on making VDOT more efficient and expedite proposals.
Of course, that makes him the only Delegate the Democrats wanted to challenge, right?
Villanueva is a businessman. He understands economic development. He understands what it means to make a payroll and balance a budget. He also understands local government, and that is an important asset in the General Assembly. He’s served his community in countless ways and has gotten a lot done in his first term as Delegate.
I’ve known Villanueva for many years. I spoke to some organizations and a certain newspaper when he ran for City Council in 2002. When they endorsed Villanueva’s opponents then, they’d ask me if I thought they got any wrong. I told them Villanueva. He won, earned all their support for re-election, and won that, too, with over 50% of the vote, even though it was a 10-person race.
Never underestimate Ron Villanueva. He’s represented Virginia Beach well in Richmond, he’s run an excellent campaign and I feel sorry for the Democrats who thought this was the district to challenge in.
Ok, I don’t feel THAT sorry…
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About the author
The right wants to jeer him. The left wants to censor him. Moderates usually want both. Brian Kirwin is a political consultant and public relations strategist in Virginia Beach with a lightning-rod flair. Brian also serves on the VB Arts & Humanities Commission and frequently appears on Hampton Roads theatrical stages, if only to prove that all actors aren’t liberals. Kirwin’s columns stir up debate and hit the political scene with no punches pulled.
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15 Responses to "Villanueva – Working Hard and Leading"
Adrianne Bennett is a mother, owner of a small business, and an attorney. All experiences that will serve her, and the people of the 21st District, well in Richmond.
Bennett is endorsed by Virginia Beach Professional Fire Fighters, the Virginia Education Association, the Virginia Police Benevolent Association, and the Virginia League of Conservation Voters.
Bennett has focused on the issued in this campaign. If Villanueva wants to call the spotlight on his record of cutting education, opening up our shores to natural disasters, and criminalizing the medical choices of women “attack advertising”, then maybe he should have voted differently.
As someone who lives in the 21st District, the mere 16 votes that he won by in 2009 haunt me. I hope people see that Bennett really has their interests at heart, and will send her ti Richmond in January.
Adrianne Bennett is a mother, owner of a small business, and an attorney. All experiences that will serve her, and the people of the 21st District, well in Richmond.
Bennett is endorsed by Virginia Beach Professional Fire Fighters, the Virginia Education Association, the Virginia Police Benevolent Association, and the Virginia League of Conservation Voters.
Bennett has focused on the issues in this campaign. If Villanueva wants to call the spotlight on his record of cutting education, opening up our shores to natural disasters, and criminalizing the medical choices of women “attack advertising”, then maybe he should have voted differently.
As someone who lives in the 21st District, the mere 16 votes that he won by in 2009 haunt me. I hope people see that Bennett really has their interests at heart, and will send her ti Richmond in January.
I say Villanueva’s opponent is nothing but a negative campaign, and here comes Joel with a negative attack comment.
I must say that even Mike Barrett cuts and pastes a few random paragraphs into his repetitive posts so that they are not identical from post 1 to post 2. Unless Joel thinks red vs black type font is a major difference, he seems like a very lazy leftist.
He couldn’t even spell “to” right the second time…
Val, it was a sneaky campaign dirty trick to get you to Bennett’s campaign site. The entire text of the first post is a link to Bennett’s campaign website, as where the second post only had her name linked to the site. And, what Andrew said.
Bennett would better serve her Democratic constituents by providing pro bono legal service to paid Northam perpetrators who are caught on video stealing and destroying Loyola campaign signage.
Brian’s endorsement piece misses a few key pieces of information. First, in order for the Pilot to endorse Villanueva, it had to deny just about every editorial on the issues they have ever written. Ron may be a nice guy, but his caucus has waged war on Hampton Roads and helped to destroy a once proud and efficient transportation network.
Since the three major industries in the region, that is, the Port, the Navy, and tourists/visitors depend upon ingress and egress, it is simply bizarre to say Villanueva supports economic development which is dependent upon transportation infrastructure.
For those who understand the effect of a ring of toll roads around Hampton Roads, a warning to all not to come here again, the only way to deliver the message that this is an abomination, is to defeat Ron Villanueva and send a message to his caucus. Most of us here don’t have that chance, but those who live in his district can speak for the rest of us. Vote for Bennett and change Virginia.
The double post was a mistake…didn’t mean to link the entire text…second post was attempt to correct…hoping the first would be deleted.
…and I’m typo prone…go figure.
Side comment: I miss the edit comment feature BD once had.
Readers of Mike’s comments miss the edit feature, too.
Actually Brian, I think they miss the delete button. Reading something you have to think about makes many posters uncomfortable, anxious, and maybe even angry. On the other hand, reading your drivel about how Ron has supported all the republican talking points can get mind numbing after awhile.
Here we face tremendous challenges in Hampton Roads, and our republcian caucus can’t seem to deal with any of the important issues. Frankly, why re-elect any of them? Do all our citizens want tolls so high you can’t use the roads, tuition so high you can’t go to college, and service levels so low that we are making Mississippi look like a progressive state?
Mike, in the Dem version of the Webster dictionary, progressive and regressive have the same meaning.
Mike,
Regardless of what you think of Adrianne Bennett, [her](ed. by J.R.) campaign has spent plenty of time going nowhere. Ron has this one in the bag.
Hopefully, the candidates heard enough about transportation on the campaign trail that they actually do something when they get to Richmond.
Mike, you don’t make people think. You make people scroll down.
You also make the General Assembly ignore you when you consistently blast them and support insipid opponents.
Notice?
Yes Brian, of course I’ve noticed. They ignore me and most of the citizens in this city. They work against the interests of the City, its citizens, and this region, and they have created districts so absurd in their design that few know where they are or who their Delegate is. Frankly, they have succeeded perfectly in creating the conditions for their continued eligibility for benefits from VRS.
Now as far as serving our interests, heck no, they serve the interests of Bill Howell and the republcian caucus. In fact, if a constituent dares to question their failures they get incensed about it. Of course, with sycophants like you to bolster their egos, perhaps constituents are simply to be tolerated, not served.
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