7th District will nominate by convention
According to social media reports, the 7th District Republican Committee has chosen to nominate their candidate for Congress via convention. This convention is to be held on May 21st. Also, according a tweet from RPV Chairman John Whitbeck, Nancy Smith and Mark Hile were elected to two seats on the State Central Committee. Both are loyal to Congressman Dave Brat.
According to sources who attended the 7th District Meeting, the meeting began with about 150 Dave Brat supporters , 80 College Republicans who had just come from the College Republican Federation of Virginia Convention, and about 50 non-Brat supporters. Oddly enough, the meeting went into recess as soon as the Pledge of Allegiance and prayer were completed. Attendees that Bearing Drift spoke to stated that a “meeting” was being held trying to get the secret ballot vote on method of nomination. The eventual vote to decide if the ballot would be secret ballot failed, an open ballot measure failed, then it was decided that a hand count would be used.
At the time of the Treasurer’s Report, the committee held only $2000 cash on hand. Frequent Readers will remember that after Fred Gruber was elected 7th District Chairman, the 7th District committee voted to drain itself of the money that was raised by former Majority Leader Cantor and former Chairman Linwood Cobb. The committee at that time was left with $85,000.
Questions remain as to where the other $83,000 was spent. Also, it is highly unlikely that anyone could rent a high school gymnasium or hotel ball room for a convention with only $2K. Reports from the meeting are that the 7th District plans to recover the costs of a convention by voluntary filing fees.
Then, the election of State Central Committee members was held. Nancy Smith was elected to one seat on SCC. Ms. Smith is heavily involved with Mr. Brat’s campaigns and the Henrico County Tea Party. Mark Hile was then elected to the other vacant seat to SCC. Mr. Hile is a leader in the Henrico Tea Party and is heavily involved in the Henrico County GOP.
The meeting turned interesting when Congressman Brat rose to speak. According to Bearing Drift’s sources, when speaking about his wish to hold a convention, Rep. Brat stated:
“It is unprecedented to go against the Congressman’s wishes.”
No word yet on if Congressman Brat has heard about Barbara Comstock fighting to get a primary, but c’est la vie. Simply put, Congressman Brat wanted a convention, and thought that his adherents should follow his wishes simply because he (Brat) wanted it. The vote was held, the measure to hold a convention passes.
There were other Speakers at the event, but the most notable was outgoing Chairman Fred Gruber. One source says that Mr. Gruber called the 7th District Chairman’s job “the most disgusting job he has ever held.” Other sources say Chairman Gruber described his experience as “slimy.”
One could conclude that Mr. Brat is probably celebrating his re-nomination. It tends to be the case that underfunded, less established candidates can fair better in a convention. Ad buys, door knocking, or huge staffs aren’t necessary for a convention. Those things help to a certain extent, but the main motive of a convention is to keep those nominating to be more conservative.
It also works into Mr. Brat’s favor that he has focused on constituent services more than his predecessor. Love or hate Brat, he works hard to be seen in his district. He’s visible in his district, no one can argue that.
At the same time, Mr. Brat hasn’t done anything since he arrived in Congress. He was one of the 9 people who did not vote for Speaker Paul Ryan. This occurred after Brat requested a list of written ultimatums, which he did not get from Ryan, nor did he get in writing from Webster. Rumor has it Mr. Brat was very close to voting for Speaker Ryan , but at the last minute switched his vote. This came after he was threatened by his former supporters and campaign manager that “the betrayal will be irreversible” if he voted for Speaker Ryan. As my colleague Shaun Kenney summed it up, they told Brat “vote wrong and get Cantor’d.”
Congressman Brat has gotten one bill into law since elected. Did Mr. Brat pass Balanced Budgets, Immigration legislation, or some other piece of legislation that sends jollies up the legs of his band of merry populists? No, it was a bill “to designate the arboretum at the Hunter Holmes McGuire VA Medical Center in Richmond, Virginia, as the “Phyllis E. Galanti Arboretum.” Mr. Brat put forth an amendment to reform the NIH, which failed 114-193. Besides that, Mr. Brat done nothing except vote no on every funding bill that is put before the House. Brat has been in Congress 14 months and he has voted to for a government shutdown 3 times.
With that poor record in mind, It is completely in the realm of possibility that Congressman Brat’s challenger Henrico County Sheriff Mike Wade could fare well in a convention. With the recent redistricting, all of Henrico County was included in the district. It’s a county that Sheriff Wade has won multiple times. At the same time, Mr. Brat lost New Kent and Hanover counties in redistricting. Both counties were strong supporters of Brat and known Tea Party havens. The lack of his base counties could cause problems.
The first rule about conventions, they are the most unpredictable thing on this planet. It comes down to who will take an entire Saturday and sit through hours of voting. It comes down to who can recruit the most Delegates. Mr. Brat can think that he can recruit people, but he should be aware of what made him be elected to Congress the first time around. The old adage “all politics is local” could change the outcome of a convention with locally elected Sheriff Wade.
So, Mr. Brat, don’t count your chickens before they hatch.
