Party Stumbles, Candidate Incompetence, Ongoing Criminal Investigations Spell Trouble in Federal Races
Does Virginia’s Republican Party care about its future? At least one conservative doesn’t think so. Writing in the Washington Post, Norman Leahy warns that party stumbles, candidate incompetence, and ongoing criminal investigations will hurt the party’s chance in competitive federal races in the 2nd, 5th and 7th districts.
First up, in Virginia’s 7th District, Leahy reports that the many candidates vying for the nomination are “making themselves and their campaigns toxic.” While “Spanberger has done exactly what she needs to do” to win reelection, Leahy notes instead that the Republican candidates are “trailing badly” when it comes to being “mildly competent and somewhat respectable.”
And “special mention” goes to Nick Freitas, who did not file necessary paperwork to ensure a spot on the general election ballot this year. Refusal to follow simple directions is nothing new for Negligent Nick Freitas. Just last year, Freitas failed to make the November 5th ballot while seeking his third term in the House of Delegates. Freitas had to mount a time-consuming and costly write-in campaign that was described by the Washington Post as a “setback” during an election that Republicans could not “afford to lose a single seat.”
Inside Elections’ Nathan Gonzales said of the race in VA-07 that there is “no such thing as an easy race for Republicans.” Inside Elections rates the race Tilt Democratic.
Next, in Virginia’s 2nd district, scandal-plagued Scott Taylor won the GOP nomination “under legal clouds” of his campaign’s election fraud scandal. The campaign committed “out and out fraud” with “intent to defraud the Commonwealth” when collecting signatures to get an independent candidate. Taylor already conceded that the controversy is a major reason he lost in 2018, and fellow Republicans agree. Ben Loyola, Taylor’s opponent, said it best: Scott Taylor’s criminality brings problems to this district. The special prosecutor announced that the investigation into Taylor and his campaign remains open and ongoing, saying we were “likely to see more” indictments and legal action in the future. Another former staffer’s trial date is set for September. Cook Political give Democrats the advantage in this race.
And of course, in Virginia’s 5th District, Bob Good recently won a rigged convention against incumbent Denver Riggleman. VA-05 Republicans have chosen to forfeit their incumbent advantage and nominate someone in Good who has just $34,000 cash on hand so far in this election. And like Freitas, Good also did not file the paperwork needed to ensure a spot on November’s ballot.
Nonpartisan race prognosticators Cook Political Report and Sabato’s Crystal Ball have shifted the race in Democrats’ favor and GOP operatives in the state agree that Good’s victory makes this seat more competitive, one telling Politico: “national Republicans are going to have to spend money to retain the seat…And they shouldn’t have to.”
“The Virginia GOP is in deep trouble,” said DCCC Spokesperson Christine Bennett. “Accusations of election rigging, incompetence, and an ongoing election fraud case cloud the field and cementing Democrats’ chances in November.”
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Does the Virginia GOP even care about its future?
Opinion by Norman Leahy
July 9, 2020
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/07/09/does-virginia-gop-even-care-about-its-future/
[…]
Just how bad is the Virginia brand of Republicanism now? Consider the story of how a “cabal of local Republican Party apparatchiks” engineered former Campbell County supervisor Bob Good’s victory over 5th Congressional District Rep. Denver Riggleman.
Riggleman alleged Good’s backers engaged in ballot stuffing, which the local party leaders deny.
All that aside, it’s important to remember the New Jersey-size 5th District was designed to elect a Republican.
But Good’s weird brand of revanchist Republicanism makes it impossible to rule out an upset.
[…]
Like the 5th, the 7th District was designed to elect a Republican to Congress, and it managed to do so until Spanberger defeated incumbent Dave Brat in 2018.
Brat has retreated to the friendly confines of Liberty University, and Spanberger has done exactly what she needs to do to hold on in November.
Meanwhile, as Brandon Jarvis reports, the Republicans contending for their party’s nomination are busy making themselves and their campaigns toxic.
And a special mention goes to Del. Nick Freitas, who, for the second consecutive election, didn’t file very important campaign paperwork ensuring he could appear on the ballot.
Fortunately for Freitas — whose paperwork snafu forced him to run for reelection in 2019 as a write-in candidate — and 5th District nominee Bob Good (who also forgot to file his ballot access forms) the state Board of Elections voted 2-1 to give both “scofflaws” a little extra time to get right with the law.
But again, the 7th is designed to elect a Republican — if said Republican is mildly competent and somewhat respectable. This crew is trailing badly on both counts.
Of course, they aren’t campaigning under legal clouds like 2nd Congressional District GOP nominee Scott Taylor is.
The former incumbent, who lost to Rep. Elaine Luria (D) in 2018, switched from a Senate race he wasn’t going to win to a House rematch he hopes to win. All the while, the investigation into the Taylor campaign’s effort to get a third party on the ballot in the 2018 race is still underway.
Republicans could have said “no thanks” to a Taylor candidacy. But they didn’t.
And maybe that, plus what’s happening in the 5th and 7th Congressional districts, answers the “should we care?” question about Virginia Republicans.
They don’t seem to care. Maybe we shouldn’t, either.
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