Rob Wittman Needs To Stay In the House
Andrew Cain of the Richmond Times Dispatch correctly stated this week that “Virginia Republicans are eating their elders.” The Virginia political world was rocked by the resounding victory of Delegate Scott Taylor this past week. Taylor, the affable young Delegate, won his nomination by beating Congressman J. Randy Forbes in the 2nd Congressional District. Many of us knew that Delegate Taylor was a very effective candidate who could be a positive force for change in Republican Party of Virginia and the US House. However, Taylor’s victory comes at a price to the Commonwealth and its standing in Congress. Virginia is quickly losing our seniority.
Jenna Portnoy of the Washington Post reports:
“A 15-year incumbent and subcommittee chairman, Forbes had the seniority to bring home funding and projects that a freshman lacks.
The 11-member House delegation, which includes three Democrats, could find itself further adrift with Rep. Rob Wittman (R) planning to run for governor next year and Rep. Barbara Comstock (R) facing a competitive reelection fight.
“If some of these things had not happened, think about where we’d be,” said Bill Bolling, a Republican and former lieutenant governor. “The inescapable truth is that because of the defeat of people like Forbes and Cantor .?.?. Virginia’s influence in the House of Representatives is tremendously diminished.”For the delegation, the loss is compounded by a string of recent retirements starting with Democrat James P. Moran and Republican Frank R. Wolf. Reps. Scott Rigell and Robert Hurt followed suit, opting to leave public office rather than seek reelection this year.
Taylor may be appointed to armed services, but he won’t chair the committee’s panel on seapower and protection forces, as Forbes did, supporters noted.
“With all due respect, when you lose people like Eric Cantor and Randy Forbes, you replace them with people who will be backbenchers for a long time,” Bolling said.”
I could not agree more with Bill Bolling. We lost Eric Cantor to a primary, Randy Forbes to re-districting, and Frank Wolf to retirement. One thing that Ms. Portnoy did not mention is that House Judiciary Chairman Bob Goodlatte is probably close to retirement. Goodlatte, who last week won his primary by 78%, will be term-limited out of his chairmanship of the Judiciary Committee due to the current rules set by the Republican conference. The House Rules state that one Committee Chairman can serve three terms as the Chair. Barring Goodlatte losing his Congressional seat, he will serve his third term as Judiciary Chair in the 2017-2018 term. That, given Mr. Goodlatte’s age, leads observers to believe it likely that Goodlatte may choose to retire after this term.
That leads us to Rob Wittman. Wittman, the amiable Congressman from the 1st Congressional District, has been gearing up for a run for Governor of Virginia. Wittman has served in Congress since 2007, and currently serves as Chair of the House Armed Services Readiness Subcommitttee.
It’s easy to see why he would want to run for Governor. Popular sentiment around the country paints Washington as broken and dysfunctional, with nothing getting done. As Governor, he could have a bigger impact via the executive powers of the office. While I can understand the desire, it’s clear to me that we can’t afford to lose Wittman right now.
Rob Wittman needs to stay in the House of Representatives.
1. We need the Seniority.
If Goodlatte retires and Wittman was elected Governor, the dean of the Virginia House Republicans could easily be Virginia’s Ninth District Congressman Morgan Griffith. As much as I love my former boss, he was only elected in 2010. He serves on the powerful Energy & Commerce committee, but it could be awhile before Griffith is appointed Subcommittee Chairman or something in House Leadership. Wittman’s leadership is needed to provide the state with the seniority from Wittman. With no statewide office holders, Republicans across the state are hampered by a lack of national fundraising capabilities and seniority. Rob is our last hope for significant power in the House for at least a decade.
2. Virginia’s military community needs their Readiness Subcommittee Chairman.
As Chairman of the Readiness Subcommittee, Congressman Wittman has a wide variety of control over the budget of the Armed Forces. According to the Subcommittee’s website, “The Readiness Subcommittee is responsible for the single largest account within DOD’s budget. It oversees military readiness, training, logistics and maintenance issues and programs, military construction, installations and family housing issues, and the BRAC process…The Readiness Subcommittee makes sure that our troops are properly trained and their equipment is properly maintained so they can succeed in their missions, and that they have the facilities and services they deserve when they return home.”
Virginia has already lost the leadership on the Armed Services Committee with the exiting of Congressman Forbes, who was on the short list to take over the Committee after current Chairman Mac Thornberry is term limited out. Given the critical impact of defense programs on the Commonwealth, it is necessary that a senior Republican from Virginia stay on House Armed Services. We need a Virginian to voice the concerns of thousands of Virginians that depend on that sector of the economy. If Scott Taylor is elected, he can only do such much as a first term member of House Armed Services, assuming he gets that plum assignment. Rob Wittman’s steadfast dedication to Virginia’s military families and defense related industry makes him the obvious choice to lead our House delegation in the future.
3. Wittman’s gubernatorial campaign is hampered by his Congressional reelection campaign.
Of the three candidates running for Governor, Rob seems to be campaigning the least – which is understandable. He’s both in Congress now and running for re-election, which is two full time jobs already. Other candidates don’t have those problems. Ed Gillespie is working his heart out working the rubber chicken dinner circuit, while Corey Stewart is serving as Virginia Victory Chairman and lead Trump surrogate in the Commonwealth – and neither have to worry about reelection this year. Given how loudly both Stewart and Gillespie have been campaigning, they’ve already taken up a considerable portion of the real estate when it comes to grassroots activists, donors, and operatives in Virginia.
Rob is at a structural disadvantage in this race already, and this cycle isn’t going to make it easy for anybody. It is difficult enough to build the infrastructure necessary for a convention nomination process (assuming we nominate via convention, which has not yet been decided), and having a compressed schedule to do so because of needing to run for reelection this fall and immediately pivot to the next campaign makes it harder still, if not impossible. It has not been done, at least not this century.
Rob Wittman is a good man and a strong conservative leader. He would make an excellent Governor of Virginia, but we need him elsewhere right now. I hope Rob and his advisors rethink this potential run and decide to take one for the team. We need him in the House, now more than ever.
