When Ralph Smith took his seat in the Senate of Virginia in January 2008, he instantly became one of the chamber’s strongest conservative voices–something that was not appreciated by Senate Democrats, who sought to eliminate Sen. Smith through their hyper-partisan redistricting plan:
“The Democrats outspent me 4 to 1 last time and that didn’t work. This time the Democratic leadership thought they could gerrymander me out of the Senate. They drew my house into one district, my office into another district, and most of my constituents into a third,” said Smith. “Fortunately they missed some things.”
Those things, located in the neighboring 19th Senate District, include his parents’ respective hometowns–one in Bedford County, the other in Wythe County–along with 56 percent of his former constituents. On Thursday evening, Sen. Smith announced that he is indeed coming home to run for reelection from the 19th Senate District.
“This district includes some places that are very special to me…. I opposed the gerrymander and voted for reform every year. Unfortunately the gerrymander is now the law, but I am thrilled that I might have the opportunity to represent these communities that my family and I have been connected to for so long,” said Smith.
Sen. Smith’s press conference was attended by Congressmen Bob Goodlatte and Morgan Griffith (two of the three congressmen who represent the new 19th Senate District), as well as Sen. Bill Stanley, Dels. Bill Cleaveland and Charles Poindexter, many local elected officials and both party leaders and activists from throughout the district. Rep. Goodlatte praised Sen. Smith’s conservative bona fides and at least one of Sen. Smith’s ideas that he has implemented in the 112th Congress:
“Ralph Smith has built a record of conservative success in the Senate and I hope he will continue to represent us in Richmond. His efforts to establish a 72 hour budget review is such a good idea that Morgan [Griffith] and I brought it to Washington and it is now part of the House rules for every bill,” said Rep. Bob Goodlatte.
Sen. Smith’s move to Roanoke County, along with Sen. Stanley’s move, announced earlier in the day on Thursday, not only foils the Democrats plans to take out at least one of the Senate’s arch-conservatives, but it also allows the GOP to avoid a costly and divisive primary that could have fractured conservatives in a year when party loyalty might be the key to recapturing the Senate majority. Rather than divide the Senate’s Republican caucus, the Democrats’ gerrymandered plan seems to have united downstate conservatives, inspiring them to work together to create a “new state Senate” that may well contain the very senators the Democratic caucus hoped to silence.
