Even Kos is admitting Democrat Glenn Nye has a long road ahead of him in Virginia’s 2nd Congressional District…especially when THEIR poll shows him down by 14 points. Ouch.

Rep. Thelma Drake (R-VA02) released her second ad of the campaign and a Virginia blog is prominently on display. (I’d embed the ad, but apparently that feature has been disabled at this posting).

The ad takes several quotes that Glenn Nye made this past May on VB Dems regarding his opposition to offshore drilling and raising taxes on energy companies and contrasts those statements with his most recent positions quoted in the Virginian-Pilot and Cathy Lewis’ “Hearsay” on WHRO.

Taking the policy positions out of this for a second though, what does this mean for blogging? Will candidates be less willing to come on blogs and communicate? Or does this give blogging greater credibility as a source?

Are there any NoVA/DC property tax attorneys out there?

In yesterday’s debate between Glenn Nye and Rep. Thelma Drake (R-VA02), Drake asserted that Nye was purportedly doing something improper by taking a “homestead deduction” in Washington DC because he did not live there.

After some further research, Glenn Nye, co-owner of the property with his brother, does not need to live there in order to be entitled to the property tax exemption because his brother claims the property as his primary residence.

Here’s what the law says:

Homestead Deduction

This benefit reduces your real property’s assessed value by $64,000 prior to computing the yearly tax liability.

The Homestead benefit is limited to residential property. To qualify:

1. An application must be on file with the Office of Tax and Revenue;
2. The property must be occupied by the owner/applicant and contain no more than five dwelling units (including the unit occupied by the owner); and
3. The property must be the principal residence (domicile) of the owner/applicant.

According to DC law, as long as one owner declares the property their principal residence and occupies it (in this case, Nye’s brother Kent), then the other does not need to live there.

The problem is, for the past 21 months, Kent Nye has not occupied the property. He has been serving overseas.

“If Thelma Drake had done any research at all, she would know that Kent Nye has maintained his house in Washington as his primary residence before and while in Iraq,” wrote Rick Fromberg, Nye’s campaign manager. “Drake claims that those working and serving overseas should not be able to maintain primary residence in the United States, and is asserting that they should have to pay a higher tax rate for their dedication.”

As most military folks in this area are well aware, an overseas tour is not out of the ordinary. And, that service is to be commended. However, it’s unclear if that’s why Kent Nye was overseas and if the time away that he was serving can be exempted.

In yesterday’s debate, Glenn Nye stated that his brother was no longer in the military. If that’s the case, would the homestead deduction on the property still apply?

We posted on Aug. 4 that Virginia Beach Democrat Glenn Nye and challenger to Rep. Thelma Drake (VA-2) had released his energy strategy. In his plan, Nye stated he was in favor of:

“More drilling on lands now leased to oil companies, more regulation on oil speculators, and more investment in alternative energy.

“[Nye also] said he is not opposed to lifting the congressional moratorium on new offshore drilling sites but said there should be no drilling off Virginia’s coast unless the Navy approves it.”

However, in May, Nye said “I do not believe that drilling off the coast of Virginia is good policy”.

Yesterday, Rep. Thelma Drake held a press conference that touted her bipartisan bill, which may be pushed aside in lieu of Speaker Pelosi’s proposal. Her bill gives the states, especially Virginia, a say in where the drilling is allowed and a share of the revenue. She asked yesterday how Glenn Nye would vote, since he’s been both for and against drilling for oil.

According to WNIS 790AM this morning, the Nye camp is said to be in favor of states having a share in the revenue.

I asked via email the Nye camp for further clarification.

“No one’s ever saved a penny on gas because a politician held a press conference. Our Representative should go up to Washington and work to make sure our citizens get what they need—lower gas prices and a sound energy policy,” wrote Rick Fromberg, Nye’s campaign manager. “Our Representative should focus on getting things done for our district, not hold a press conference about whose name is on what bill. That will be Glenn Nye’s approach.”

It turns out that a couple of candidates running for federal office this year have significant financial interests with the major oil companies.

Surprise: it’s Democrats Barack Obama and Glenn Nye.

Glenn Nye, challenger to Rep. Thelma Drake in Virginia’s 2nd Congressional District, unveiled his energy plan over the weekend.

The energy plan doesn’t deviate much from what he told Bearing Drift and state Democratic convention-goers in June, when he highlighted closing any tax loop-holes for energy corporations and diverting that money to alternative fuel research.

Today’s Virginian-Pilot provides an overview of the 2nd Congressional District campaign between incumbent Rep. Thelma Drake, a Republican, and challenger Glenn Nye, a Democrat.

The article, which quotes Larry Sabato and local political scientists Quentin Kidd of Christopher Newport University and Jesse Richman of Old Dominion University, characterizes the district as unpredictable, based on the top of the ticket.

“The people of Virginia Beach expect their candidates for public office to keep their word. On Monday, Glenn Nye’s campaign demanded that Thelma Drake cancel a fund raiser with Karl Rove, who has done nothing wrong. Nye’s campaign falsely said Rove broke House rules. On Wednesday, Nye’s campaign called their own standard “absurd” when they were asked to return $4,000 from Charlie Rangel, who admitted to the New York Post that he violated House Ethics Rules on fund raising. Glenn Nye must live up to his own standard and return Charlie Rangel’s money or risk looking like a hypocrite to Virginia Beach voters.”

Which is exactly what Brian Kirwin called Nye here on Bearing Drift Wednesday.

So, right now it’s 2-1 in the surrogate battle. Mathieson and Bouchard for Nye; Iaquinto for Drake. Will another delegate step-up for Drake to even the score?

Update…I see your two delegates with one delegate and raising you a senator…the latest from State Sen. Frank Wagner:

“Glenn Nye has a lot of nerve to ask Virginia Beach voters to support him when he can’t be counted on to practice what he preaches. One day Nye’s campaign falsely accused Karl Rove of “breaking the rules” of the House and called on Thelma Drake to cancel a fundraiser with him. The next day, they called their own standard “absurd” and refused to return $4,000 from Charlie Rangel, who admitted that he violated House Ethics Rules on fundraising. Glenn Nye seems to be more interested in empty partisan political rhetoric than holding himself to his own standard. I call on him to return Charlie Rangel’s money because Virginia Beach residents know hypocrisy when they see it.”

I caught up with Glenn Nye, candidate for congress in the 2nd Congressional district, who is challenging incumbent Rep. Thelma Drake (R-VA), at the recent Democratic Party of Virginia Convention.

 

 Glenn Nye, Democratic Candidate for Congress, Virginia's 2nd CD [6:03m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (428)

Bearing Drift was happy to learn that pillar-of-the-community Democrat Glenn Nye has finally found a place to live in the 2nd Congressional District and attended his first civic league meeting this past week.

Welcome to the neighborhood!

In case you were wondering, Thelma Drake has lived in and served her community since 1967.