Is Corey Stewart Attempting to Hijack SW Virginia GOP Unit Fundraisers to Benefit His Candidacy?
The GOP Unit Dinner is a time-honored tradition of Republican committees in Virginia. This is how local units raise the crucial funds needed to support candidates during election season, and nowhere is this tradition more important and more valuable than in the mountains of Southwest Virginia. Young or old, tea party or establishment, everyone attends the fundraising dinner to support the local GOP.
Two of those dinners are being held this weekend. In Giles County, Republicans are hosting the 5th Annual Stafford-Morris Dinner. Usually yours truly would not drive over 50 miles to go to a unit committee dinner but my new tradition is to never miss the Giles event. The food is phenomenal, the people are great, and every candidate attends to be heard by one of the more influential committees in the 9th Congressional District. I attended last year for the first time and hope to never miss another Stafford-Morris Dinner.
Another committee in Southwest Virginia is trying for the first time to emulate the success of Giles County Republicans. On Saturday, the Bland County Republican Committee is hosting their First Annual Thomas Muncy Dinner. Adam Kidd, GOP chairman, Bland County supervisor, and a fellow Young Republican chairman, has done a fantastic job at building a model GOP committee.
Both Giles and Bland have planned great events but now Prince William County Supervisor Corey Stewart has caused confusion. Corey Stewart and his campaign decided to list both the Giles County GOP dinner and the Bland County GOP dinner on his personal campaign Facebook page. Usually there is no problem with a candidate listing the events he/she is attending. Of course, Mr. Stewart wants to promote himself. No harm, no foul in that.
However, the problem comes when Mr. Stewart lists the events he is attending and notes on his Facebook event page that there are “tickets available.” There would be no problem if supporters were directed to the unit committee’s event page or webpage where they could truly obtain a ticket to these events.
That, however, is not the case. Instead, those clicking on Mr. Stewart’s Facebook for tickets to the Bland County dinner are redirected to Mr. Stewart’s campaign webpage. There, they are instructed to fill out a form and get a ticket from the Stewart campaign for the event, as seen here.
Now Stewart’s campaign has gone so far as to send emails inviting people to “sign up for a ticket.” This email was sent to Bearing Drift:
Of course, something like this is going to cause a lot of headaches for any unit chairman. The Bland County GOP Committee now has no idea how many people have registered with the Stewart campaign. They have no idea how much food to prepare. They also have no idea if their county GOP dinner is going to turn into a Corey Stewart for Governor rally.
As a result, the Bland County GOP Committee released a public statement Monday on their Facebook page.
Statement from the Executive Committee regarding the Bland County GOP Thomas Muncy Dinner:
Fellow Republicans, it has been brought to the attention of the Bland County GOP Executive Committee that there has been some confusion regarding a separate event page for our dinner published by the Corey Stewart for Governor campaign.
The Thomas Muncy Dinner is a Bland County GOP event which will serve as a fundraiser for the Bland unit. We have invited numerous elected and party officials, as well as candidates for statewide office, including Mr. Stewart. This dinner is not in support of any one candidate or campaign as some have come to believe due to the confusion of two event pages. It is to honor the memory of Bland resident, Thomas Muncy, who in 1917 was the Republican nominee for Governor, and to raise funds for our unit
Our event is by donation only, and no tickets are required. However, on the Stewart event page, there is a link that reads “Tickets Available.” This will take you to Corey Stewart’s website where it asks for your information. Please know, that filling out that form and submitting it does not provide any guarantees for our dinner and is not associated with the Bland County GOP.
We have brought our concerns to the Stewart campaign and hope that any confusion or uncertainties are addressed in a timely manner. We look forward to hearing from Mr. Stewart as well as all other candidates, or their surrogates, as they take advantage of the opportunity to speak with Bland County voters about their visions for our great Commonwealth.
We are excited to see you all at the Bland County Republican Committee’s Thomas Muncy Dinner on April 8.
-Bland County GOP Executive Committee
There is nothing wrong with a candidate promoting the fact he is attending an event. However, a candidate attempting to distribute tickets through his campaign causes disruption for those planning an event.
This is the latest in a series of antics. It is now an expectation in Virginia to see how far Corey Stewart will go to embarrass himself and his campaign. However, his reckless method of campaigning is now starting to hurt others, and the party as a whole. When a candidate is so desperate to get supporters at events that he uses his own promotional materials and bypasses the party to do so, it shows how poor of a job they are actually doing as a candidate.
Of note, Mr. Stewart is the only candidate for Governor who has more people who find him unfavorable than favorable. The latest CNU Wason poll shows Stewart would lose to the Democratic gubernatorial candidates, former Congressman Tom Periello and Lieutenant Governor Ralph Northam, and he lags behind Republican gubernatorial candidate Ed Gillespie by 25 points. Stewart also lost a straw poll in his home county, and lost the straw poll in Fairfax, the largest county in Virginia.
It seems that Mr. Stewart is so unpopular in his own party, he has to bypass local committees and canvass the bowels of the internet (Reditt AMA, anyone?) to try to find warm bodies that will actually support him. We just didn’t realize to what lengths he would go to promote himself.
