Paul Hirschbiel, a Virginia Beach consultant, is officially throwing his hat into the ring Monday to run for Congress against Rep. Scott Rigell, WVEC is reporting.
We’re looking forward to hearing Hirschbiel speak glowingly of all the Democrats he’s supported over the years.
Hirschbiel will be joined by U.S. Senator Mark Warner to make the announcement.
The Rigell campaign responded to the news by stating that, in their view, the election’s key issues will be about jobs, the economy, and excessive federal spending.
“[Congressman Rigell] is a leader and an aggressive advocate in changing Washington, working with both Republicans and Democrats to fix a dysfunctional Congress,” said Jason Miyares, Rigell adviser, to WVEC. “He believes deeply in leading by example as he serves and represents our community, and looks forward to sharing his record of job creation and congressional reform throughout this campaign.”
Most recently, as promised in his 2010 campaign, Rigell has been donating 15 percent of his Congressional pay (over $20,000) back to the U.S. Treasury to help pay down the debt – again, leading by example. Warren Buffett recently challenged all congressmen and senators to do something similar and was surprised to learn that Rigell is actually already doing it.
“I…am heartened by both your contributions and your thoughts. I’m particularly impressed that you took this action before my challenge,” Buffett wrote Rigell.
Rigell is the only one, so far, who has taken this action.
I wonder if Hirschbiel will make the same promise on Monday and if Sen. Mark Warner will also announce his support for the Buffett challenge too?
Regardless, donating a little bit of salary is not going to pay down the debt, but it is a symbolic gesture that shows Rigell’s commitment to making sound economic and spending decisions to do so. It will be interesting to find out what Hirschbiel’s thoughts and ideas are on the economy, national debt, domestic energy production, etc.
National Democrats have named the 2nd District as being one of their 18 targeted races of changing from “Red to Blue“.
