Presidential election? What presidential election? The 2017 races to lead the Commonwealth are already well underway, and Delegate Rob Bell (R-Albemarle) already has an impressive level of support for the Republican nomination for Attorney General.
Bearing Drift has exclusively obtained the results of a survey taken from December 7-14, 2015, by Conquest Communications, a Richmond polling firm, on behalf of the Bell campaign. Nearly 2,000 past and potential Republican convention delegates were surveyed:
Among those self-described as “definitely” planning to attend the 2017 Republican Convention:
Strongly Support Bell: 65.07%
Lean Towards Bell: 12.18%
Undecided: 20.56%
Not Bell: 2.19%
Among the 2014 Republican Convention Attendees:
Strongly Support Bell: 62.62%
Lean Towards Bell: 12.34%
Undecided: 22.62%
Not Bell: 2.43%
Among the 2013 Republican Convention Attendees:
Strongly Support Bell: 62.04%
Lean Towards Bell: 11.79%
Undecided: 24.67%
Not Bell: 1.51%
It is important to note that no other names were included in these polling questions. These results could have been different if those polled were offered alternative candidates to support. Nevertheless, these numbers obviously show that Bell is a widely acceptable candidate to the Republican base.
Bell sought the nomination for Attorney General in 2013 and lost to Sen. Mark Obenshain. He generated a lot of goodwill among the Republican base by conceding defeat with grace and dignity and then campaigning vigorously for Obenshain. After Obenshain was defeated by then-Sen. Mark Herring in the general election (under the weight of Ken Cuccinelli’s lead coattails), Bell began to travel the Commonwealth to generate support for another run in 2017. It appears that these efforts are succeeding.
The stakes couldn’t be higher. In his first two years in office, Mark Herring has shown himself to be a leftist activist who has politicized his office to a degree never before seen in Virginia. He violated the duties of his office by siding with parties seeking to invalidate a section of the state constitution, and just today he abused his powers to dramatically infringe on our Second Amendment rights. The Republicans must defeat Herring but can only do so if the party is unified behind our nominee. Bell appears to have made significant progress toward become that consensus candidate.
