Via the Roanoke Times, Delegate Morgan Griffith of Salem has officially filed his nomination papers and paid the fee to seek the Republican nomination for the 9th Congressional District at the May 22 convention.  March 1 is the filing deadline for candidates for the Republican nomination.

The convention will be held on May 22 at Ft. Chiswell High School in Wythe County beginning at 10:00am, with delegate registration starting at 8:00am.  Individual county/city GOP committees are already establishing procedures for election of delegates to the Convention.  You can see the processes for each unit on the 9th District GOP web site at www.va9gop.org.

Last night Delegate Morgan Griffith issued a press release (see story/text here) entitled “9th District Legislators Declare Support for Griffith for Congress” announcing the support of Delegate Carrico, Senator Wampler,  Delegate Kilgore, Senator Smith, Delegate Crockett-Stark, Delegate Nutter, Delegate Morefield, and Delegate Poindexter.  Carrico, Kilgore, and Wampler had been rumored to be possible candidates for the nomination.  If they are throwing their support to Griffith, as it looks like in this press release, I think we can definitely rule them out as wanting to seek the office.

Further to add to the situation, the press release is ended with the text “PAID FOR BY MORGAN GRIFFITH FOR CONGRESS”

It looks like this is an “all but certain” race for Griffith now.  The filing deadline is March 1 so we should hear about his official papers being filed soon.

The road back to Washington for Representative Rick Boucher (D) for re-election to a 15th term is likely going to be a tough one compared to what Boucher is usually up against.  It has often been popular sentiment that Boucher would have this seat for as long as he wanted it due to his usual 60+ percent victories.  Times may have now changed due to President Obama’s policies along with Boucher’s support of the cap and trade legislation.  Additionally, Boucher’s early and continuing support of Obama in the campaign may come back to be an issue.  Check out this piece in the Washington Post.

Persons seeking the Republican nomination for the seat must file their paperwork with the district chair by March 1 along with a $500 filing fee.  You can see the convention call on the 9th District web site here.  That said, there are only six days for any “big name” candidates to make up their minds and jump in.  So far as of this writing the following people have submitted the paperwork and paid the fee:  Adam Light, Jessee Ring, Dave Moore, William Carr and Brandon Roop.  Notably absent from the list is Jim BeBout who announced he was running last year at a Tea Party and was campaigning last week as the keynote speaker at a Washington County Republican Party dinner.  BeBout may be waiting to the last minute to file which might be a smart move to be able to judge the field of competition.  Jessee Ring has visited us in Smyth County and made a presentation.  The rest I know nothing about.

One”big name” that looks to be making the plunge is Majority Leader of the House of Delegates Morgan Griffith (Salem). See this story from Sunday in the Roanoke Times.  Griffith technically lives in the 6th District although his property joins the 9th District from reports.  Apparently a quirk in Virginia law allows anyone to run in any district in Virginia.  It actually appears that the U.S. Constitution along with the U.S. Supreme Court holding in U.S. Term Limits, Inc. v. Thornton (and possibly other cases) only requires a member of the House to be an inhabitant of the state represented, not specifically the district.  Also, it is worth noting that after redistricting in 2011, Griffith’s entire property will likely be in the 9th anyhow.

Griffith attended college in the 9th District, Emory & Henry College, from 1976 to 1980 according to his House biography page. E&H is located in Washington County, about 7 miles out of Abingdon.

It should be an exciting time in the 9th District this election season.  A lot of Democrats and usual Boucher supporters are having more second thoughts than usual.  Hopefully after the nominating process is done people will be united behind the candidate.  I hope that we end up with a candidate who will get national backing and be able to defeat Boucher in November.  So far it looks like Morgan Griffith may just be that candidate.

Today I attended the Inauguration ceremonies at the Virginia State Capitol for the Governor, Lieutenant Governor, and Attorney General.

It was a perfect day for an inauguration.  The temperature was in the lower 50’s and the sun was out.

It was great to witness the orderly and very ceremonial transfer of power as one administration handed off to the incoming administration.

I wish Governor McDonnell, Lt. Governor Bolling, and Attorney General Cuccinelli well for their terms of office.  I am confident that they will do a great job in getting Virginia back on track in these tough times and maintaining the Commonwealth as the best state in the nation.

Well, I have sort of been on hiatus for awhile now.  Lots to do with work and being a political party chairman along with working on the recent successful November campaigns.  So much I have to do but so little time to do it.

We’re not done in Smyth County yet as we have a special election next Tuesday, January 12 for Circuit Court Clerk.  There are a total of 7 candidates and I believe that our candidate, Robert Odum, has a great shot at winning.  Whomever wins will have about 6 years of the term left to serve.  Long time Democrat Clerk Jimmy Warren passed away back in August prompting the calling of the special election.  Warren had served as clerk for 35 years.

It is going to be great to finally have a good Republican governor again!  It has been too long.  I hope that Virginia gets back on the right track and the McDonnell Administration works to repair the inefficiencies and damages from the Warner-Kaine Administrations.

I am looking forward to the inauguration in Richmond.  I am planning on being there.

It is time that party ID on the ballot be extended to local offices like Board of Supervisors and Constitutional Offices in Virginia.

Under current Virginia law, only indicators for political party candidates (or independents) for federal, statewide, or General Assembly positions are printed on the ballots.  Local office candidates such as those for Constitutional Offices (circuit court clerks, Commonwealth’s Attorneys, sheriffs, treasurers, and commissioners of revenue) and Board of Supervisors nominated by a political party do not have any indicators beside their names on the ballot.  Yet, of course local political parties can nominate and place on the ballot candidates for these offices.  As a party chair I have to fill out and return a certification form for our local candidates for these offices to allow them ballot access.  Seems that after that, there isn’t anything in the official processes that designate them as party candidates.

As with most local political parties, we spend a considerable amount of time seeking out candidates for offices, holding meetings to nominate those candidates, assisting them with their campaigns, along with providing money and resources.  Yet, when the election comes a voter who wanted to vote a Republican ticket could be faced with two or more names for an office and be unsure of who is the Republcian candidate.  Granted, a voter should be better informed on their own and know the candidates before hand.

I’m glad that the 2009 Republican Party of Virginia Convention adopted a resolution in support of extending party ID to local elections.

Bottom line is that if the law provides for the ability of a local political party to nominate candidates for local offices, the ability for that candidate to be identified on the ballot as a Republican or Democrat should be there.  Contact your General Assembly member and encourage them to fix this problem.

A company would like to locate a new truck stop at Exit 24 in Meadowview in Washington County.  The proposed site would only be around 1000 feet from Meadowview Elementary School and forever change the scenery in that community.  People are lining up on both sides of the issue.  The Washington County leaders have held a couple public hearings on the issue and haven’t really reached a consensus.  There has been a truck stop in Glade Spring at Exit 29 for years now.

I say that if Washington County doesn’t want the truck stop, bring it up the Interstate to Smyth County.  We have some good land along the Interstate that would be perfect for a truck stop.

An interesting ballot scenario will play out in Russell County in November.  Among the elections for Governor/Lt. Governor/Attorney General/House of Delegates, Russell County will be having two special elections for constitutional officers.

The Democrat treasurer of Russell County retired in May after many years of service.  Similarly the Commonwealth’s Attorney, Mike Bush (D), was appointed to a Juvenile & Domestic Relations judgeship for the 29th District in April.  Following this, former blogger Brian Patton (D) of Dickenson County, whom had served as an Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney under Bush, was named as interim Commonwealth’s Attorney after Bush left office by the circuit court.  Patton had relocated to Russell County several weeks before the appointment.

On last Friday, the Russell County Republicans nominated former Russell County Circuit Court Clerk Dollie Compton, whom lost her 2007 re-election bid by 451 votes to the Democrat challenger, to be the Republican Treasurer nominee.  Also nominated was her son Nick Compton to be the Republican nominee for Commonwealth’s Attorney.  Both Dollie, who also is an attorney, and Nick presently work for Buchanan County Commonwealth’s Attorney Tamara Neo (R).

Also in the race are an independent candidate for Treasurer, Sheryl Taylor, who was appointed by the circuit court to be interim treasurer, but lost the fight for the Democrat nomination to Board of Supervisors Member Billy Wampler of Castlewood.  According to the SBE, Jay Steele of Lebanon has also filed for Commonwealth’s Attorney as an independent.  Patton did receive the Democratic nomination to run for Commonwealth’s Attorney.

It should be an interesting race.  This might be the first, or at least a rare time, in history that a mother and son have been running for offices at the same time.  It probably will make for some media coverage.  The local political climate of Russell County is Democratic.  All Constitutional Offices and Board of Supervisors members are Democrats.  It will be interesting to see if the Republicans can cut into that Democratic rule.

The Richmond Times-Dispatch has an article about a new executive order signed by Governor Kaine dealing with energy uses at state buildings and by state employees.  I’m glad to see our part-time Governor has solved all Virginia’s other pressing issues and again can take a spin at making a legacy for himself.

Among the executive order requirements:

• Use of recycled paper in copiers/printers.
• No bottled water
• Requiring new state owned/leased buildings in metro areas to be located within a quarter of a mile from mass transit stops
• Declaring August 3, 2009 a tele-work day for state employees

On the surface these appear to be good ideas.  However, being a person who works in the IT field I too often see copiers and printers experience more problems than usual after the use of recycled paper.  This will result in more costs for service calls for state agencies.  Bottled water is not always the luxury it is thought of.  Oftentimes people will prefer bottled water over water in pitchers for meetings just because it has a lid and I think that bottled water does have a better taste than tap water.  The statewide tele-work day is suppose to save energy costs, but the impact will be very minimal.  These employees will still be using their computers, phones, lights, and air conditioning at home.

Kaine should get back to being either a)   a full-time governor, as he was elected by the people of VA, and resign as DNC Chair or b) resign from being Governor and go to the DNC full time.

In this time of economic crisis, the least pressing thing should be state government energy usage. Thousands of Virginians are out of work and need jobs.  We need better jobs and education for the people of Virginia.

Well, I am finally getting around to posting this, albeit a week late.

The 2009 RPV Convention was definitely exciting!  Republicans are fired up and rallying to take back VA in November from 8 years of Democrat misguidance.  The energy of the convention was amazing.

One disappointing thing for me obviously was that John Brownlee did not receive the nomination for AG.  Ken Cuccinnelli bested Brownlee in that fight.  I hope that we have not seen the last of Brownlee as he is such a great and inspiring candidate.  Even though my guy didn’t win, I will do everything I can to support Ken Cuccinelli in his battle for AG.  Republicans must retain control of the AG’s office as it is such an important post in the direction of state government.

While there I met Kilo from Spark it Up of Wise for the first time.  The Wise County delegation was seated behind us, in just about as far up as you could go in the Coliseum.  While I did not sign-up to participate in the “bloggers row”, RPV sure did provide them with some great seats near the main stage.  In hind-sight I wish I would have signed up and joined them because they were right in the middle of all the action.

Sean Hannity grave a great keynote address on Saturday morning.  Somebody should convince him to run for office.  I was also amazed at the speech that Jim Gilmore gave during the vote counting intermission.  I think it was the best speech Jim Gilmore has ever made to date.  It was very powerful.

One thing I did not like about the Convention was the lunch.  VIP delegates, those who paid the $35 voluntary fee, were promised a “boxed lunch” to be available around Noon.  With around 8000 people in the building, it took around 30 minutes for me to even get through the line.  By the time I had gotten back to my seat, the candidate speeches were almost done.  I think a 1 hour recess for lunch should have been taken so that people could have heard the candidate speeches.

All in all it was a great convention and I am excited for the November elections!  I predict the Republicans will sweep all three statewide offices again for the second time in history and build on the majority of seats in the House of Delegates.