This weekend, voters in Virginia were reading editorials and columns on a Virginia judge’s ruling that Rep. Scott Taylor’s staff submitted forged petition signatures “with the intent to defraud the Commonwealth.” These pieces called out Rep. Scott Taylor for failing to take responsibility and give clear answers about his role in this growing scandal, and highlighted the trouble that it poses to his dwindling re-election prospects.
Take a look at the highlights below…
The Virginian-Pilot: Editorial: An unseemly spotlight on 2nd District
“What was expected to be a challenging contest for first-year incumbent Republican Scott Taylor now seems far more difficult, thanks to allegations of fraud surrounding the candidate and his staff…Such allegations against any candidate would be deeply harmful. To level them against people working for a sitting congressman, especially an elected official who prides himself on his honorable service in the armed forces, is almost unprecedented.”
Washington Post: Editorial: A Virginia Republican’s election trickery was sleazy — maybe even illegal
“When a public television station in Norfolk aired a report last month that the campaign of Rep. Scott W. Taylor (Va.) was engaged in pre-election skullduggery — helping a rival qualify for the ballot to split potential opposition votes — the freshman Republican called the story a ‘nothing burger.’ Lately that ‘nothing burger’ has started to look like a very Big Mac indeed that may lead to criminal charges.”
The Virginian-Pilot: Gordon C. Morse: The 2nd District, where all the world’s a stage
“Last week’s courtroom revelations on his campaign’s shenanigans — shenanigans by campaign loyalists that are now being investigated for possible criminal charges — have turned his re-election bid into a first-rate, low-order mess.”
The Virginian-Pilot: Roger Chesley: Judge smacks down congressman’s subterfuge
Ultimately, Rep. Scott Taylor’s scheme didn’t work. A Richmond Circuit Court judge this week ordered nominally independent candidate Shaun Brown off the November ballot in the 2nd Congressional District contest, saying her petitions were riddled with ‘forgery’ and ‘out and out fraud.’”
Washington Post: Leahy: Scott Taylor’s real challenge may come after Election Day
“On Wednesday, Richmond Circuit Court Judge Gregory Rupe ordered Brown’s name not be printed on the November ballot, citing ‘out and out fraud,’ adding that ‘without a doubt there were instances of fraud, perjury, and forgery.’ That’s bad. But the matter doesn’t end there. A criminal investigation is underway into how the signatures were gathered and whether fraud was committed. While the results of that probe may not be finalized before the election, Taylor’s reputation has taken a hit, and his campaign has been deeply, if not fundamentally, thrown off message. Taylor is “lying low,” not exactly the thing an incumbent in a “toss-up” race can afford to be doing in September.”