Jost: This Is a Message To My Republican Friends

By Paul Jost

This is a message to my Republican friends.

In 2000, I was living in Williamsburg, Virginia, in a solid Republican Congressional District. When our Congressman died, I ran for the Republican nomination in a 5-way primary. Two weeks before the primary, a prominent Republican pollster had me 12 points ahead. I was sure I was going to win.

But on election day, I came in a close second. I did not dispute the election. I did not complain that I had been cheated. Instead, I called up the woman who had beaten me, Jo Ann Davis, and pledged my support. A few days later, I made the maximum legal contribution to her campaign and she went on to be the Congresswoman for our district.

In 2007, when the seat became open again, I sought the Republican nomination in an 11-person field. The party chose a convention rather than a primary this time.

At the convention I won the first ballot, but because there were so many candidates, I did not have a majority. There was another ballot and I won that one also. And I won a third, and a fourth and a fifth ballot. The convention had started at 10 am and late in the evening, Rob Wittman won the sixth ballot with a majority.

I did not claim that I had been cheated because I had won the first five ballots. I did not dispute the count. What I did is that I gave a speech that night endorsing Rob and a few days later made the maximum legal contribution to his campaign. Rob is still representing that Congressional District.

This is how it works in America. If you lose, you concede gracefully and you agree to cooperate with the winner. Yes, it’s depressing to lose, but life goes on.

Paul Jost is president of Chandler Residential Inc which he founded in 1990. He owns and manages apartment buildings in several states. Jost lives in Boca Raton, Florida, with his wife, Laura, whom he met through Virginia Republican politics.