Yesterday, the Senate of Virginia rejected by a vote of 14-25 legislation that would extend party ID on the ballot to local elections.  This likely means the party ID legislation isn’t going anywhere this year.  If passed, this legislation would have identified candidates nominated for a political office at the local level (constitutional offices and local governing bodies) with an R or D after their name just like federal and state candidates.  Independents would be identified with an I.

This failure of this legislation to pass is unfortunate and absurd.  It just makes sense that if a local political party is permitted to nominate candidates for an office, that their party ID should be on the ballot beside the candidate’s name.

As I have referenced to in an earlier post, I believe a lot of misinformation exists on this legislation.  It does not require partisan local elections, or override any town/city charters that prohibit partisan elections, or override town/city charters that prescribe alternate ways for candidates to run for office.  It simply puts that party ID on the ballot for candidates nominated by a party.

In the legislation that was introduced this year, it might have not hurt for the General Assembly to precisely define in which and of what type of local elections party ID would be permitted locally.

Oh well.  Maybe one day this legislation will pass.  There always is next year.

Unfortunately, on a vote of 10-12, the House of Delegates Privileges & Elections (P&E) Committee failed to advance HB769 (Landes) this morning to the full House.

I believe that a lot of misinformation played a part in this.   Some local government interest groups were arguing that it would make local elections “partisan” and wasn’t needed.  Well, that simply was not the case.  This was purely a bill that would have added the R, D, and I designations to the ballots for all candidates.  Local elections in Virginia (except for school boards and soil & water conservation district directors, which state law prohibits party nominations for) are already partisan if a local political party decides to officially nominate a candidate.  In some parts of Virginia, local parties are extremely active and do nominate candidates for all positions.  Some areas nominate candidates only for constitutional and board of supervisors offices.  A lot of smaller and rural areas see all local candidates run as independents by local custom.  This bill wouldn’t have changed any of that.  It simply would have identified the nominees of the political parties on the election ballots and independent candidates as such.

Other arguments against the bill is that it wouldn’t allow federal executive branch employees (who are subject to the Hatch Act) to run for local offices.  I am not a lawyer, but I do believe that if a federal employee is running in an election where everyone is identified on the ballot as independent, this bill would not have caused them to violate the Hatch Act.  The Hatch Act prohibits partisan activity.  If any political party nominates a candidate (even if they are not identified with a party label on the ballot) for any political office where a federal employee of the executive branch is running as an independent, I do believe that makes the race then partisan (which would be a potential violation) from my Hatch Act research.   (Again, I am not a lawyer–the Hatch Act is VERY complex).

SB56 (Obenshain) is still alive in the Senate.  It will come up for a vote before the full Senate next week.  However, if it makes it out of the Senate (which might be difficult) it will likely be shelved in the House P&E Committee again.

If this isn’t a good option for statewide practice, I would support a bill like HB622 (LeMunyon) that would allow each locality to adopt an ordinance to opt into allowing party ID on the ballot for local elections.  Unfortunately, a subcommittee of House P&E already tabled it earlier this week.

Back in 2009, I wrote a piece about extending party ID on the ballot to local elections (constitutional officers and local governing bodies).  Under current Virginia law, only candidates for federal, statewide, and General Assembly offices have the R, D, or I designators for party beside their names.

I am pleased to see that there are a number of bills in the General Assembly this session that would fix this problem by allowing the designators to be used for any election in which a party nominates a candidate.  If voluntary party registration is enacted in Virginia (which it looks like there is a good chance of this session) it will be all that more important to have party ID on the ballot for local candidates.

Here is a list of bills currently in the General Assembly seeking to extend party ID on the ballot to local elections:

Senate

Obenshain-SB56 - http://leg1.state.va.us/cgi-bin/legp504.exe?121+sum+SB56

Martin-SB252 - http://leg1.state.va.us/cgi-bin/legp504.exe?121+sum+SB252

Smith-SB275 - http://leg1.state.va.us/cgi-bin/legp504.exe?121+sum+SB275

House

Greason-HB157 - http://leg1.state.va.us/cgi-bin/legp504.exe?121+sum+HB157

Pogge-HB374 - http://leg1.state.va.us/cgi-bin/legp504.exe?121+sum+HB374

Landes-HB769 - http://leg1.state.va.us/cgi-bin/legp504.exe?121+sum+HB769

Lingamfelter-HB931 - http://leg1.state.va.us/cgi-bin/legp504.exe?121+sum+HB931

Two members of the House have introduced bills that would fix this also by making it a) local option by local ordinance, or b) the nominated candidate’s choice

LeMunyon-HB622 (allows localities to adopt an ordinance to provide for local party ID for their local offices) - http://leg1.state.va.us/cgi-bin/legp504.exe?121+sum+HB622

John Cox-HB351 (allows local candidates to opt in to displaying their party affiliation on local ballots) - http://leg1.state.va.us/cgi-bin/legp504.exe?121+sum+HB351

I hope that the General Assembly passes some form of party ID for local elections. Ideally, it should be a statewide requirement. However, allowing localities to adopt a local ordinance to enact the requirement as proposed in the LeMunyon bill also would allow for it to be used effectively.

Some of you probably know that I was a candidate for Treasurer of Smyth County in the 2011 Local Election.  Unfortunately, I didn’t win but I did end up getting 32% of the vote in an election with only 39% voter turnout.  Voter turnout was sad considering the weather later on the election day was 70 degrees and very pretty.

I hope to soon write a substantial post about this run for office.  Running for an elected public office is probably one of the most exciting and stressful things one can do.  At the local level you, as the candidate, are the whole campaign organization (manager, fundraiser, strategist, etc.).

Watch for my post later.

Yesterday, State Senator Bill Carrico (R-40th) issued this statement about being sworn in as a new member of the Senate of Virginia.  Carrico previously served in the Virginia House of Delegates since 2002 until deciding to run for the 40th Senate District seat upon the retirement of William C. Wampler, Jr.  I believe Bill will make a fantastic Senator for SWVA, just like he did a great job representing the old 5th House of Delegates district.  His statement is below:

Office of Sen. Bill Carrico
Virginia Senate – 40th District

Contact: Stuart Higley
804.698.7540

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Friday, January 13, 2012

Carrico Sworn-In as 40th District Senator

Richmond – Sen. Bill Carrico (R-Fries) was officially sworn in on Wednesday to represent the 40th District in the Virginia State Senate. Carrico, who served for 10 years in the State House before being elected to the Senate in November, took the oath of office today to succeed retired Sen. William Wampler.

“I am honored by the opportunity to serve my constituents in the Virginia Senate,” said Carrico. “I am eager to begin my work on behalf of the 40th District, and I look forward to my first session in this chamber.”

Carrico was appointed to the committees on Education & Health, Rehabilitation & Social Services, Privileges & Elections, and Transportation. “During my years in the House, committee work taught me how to be an effective legislator. I am pleased with my committee responsibilities in the Senate, and I look forward to leveraging them to gain positive results for my constituents.”

Carrico, 50, is a retired Virginia State Trooper. He lives in Grayson County with his wife of 25 years, Paula, and their two children, Willie and Emily. He was first elected to the House in 2002 and won 67 percent of the vote in the 40th Senate District in 2011.

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This year I hope to do more with this blog.  I originally started this blog about 7 years ago (hard to believe how fast time flies!).  Over the last few years, I have not blogged as much as I did when I started up.  Life has been and is very busy.

I hope to have at least a post weekly this year.  It is important to have a good political blog about things happening in SWVA.

Stay tuned.

It was announced today that retiring Virginia State Senator William C. Wampler, Jr (R-Bristol, District 40) will be the new Executive Director of the New College Institute in Martinsville.

Wampler, first elected to the Senate of Virginia in 1987, did not seek re-election in 2011.  Wampler’s term in the Senate ends on January 11.  Delegate Bill Carrico (R-5th) will be the new Senator from the 40th District after winning the election in November.

Hello Everyone,

The last week or so has been very busy.  I am happy to report that I am running for Treasurer or Smyth County!  I was honored to receive the Republican nomination on August 22nd.  This is my first time running for elected public office.  Making the leap from the political side of things to being a candidate certainly has been interesting.

I believe that a lot can be done to increase customer service and efficiency within the Smyth County Treasurer’s Office.  I will soon be releasing my plan to make changes to the office for the benefit of Smyth County soon.

Campaign contributions may be sent to:
Tolbert for Treasurer
P.O. Box 153
Saltville, VA 24370

Any donation amounts, small or great, are greatly appreciated!  Stay tuned!

Below is a press release received from Ruth Groten, the 38th Senate District Republican Committee Chairman:

Adam Light earns Republican nomination for 38th Senate District
–Light wins nomination uncontested–
–Republicans united behind effort to unseat Puckett–

RICHLANDS—Ruth Groten, Chair of the 38th Senate District Republican Committee, announced that Adam Light from Tazewell County has received the Republican nomination for the seat in this fall’s election. Light secured the nomination by being the only candidate to pre-file for the Republican mass meeting called to choose a nominee. With only one candidate filing, the meeting will not have to be held. He will face Senator Phillip Puckett (D-Russell) this fall.

“I am thrilled that Adam is going to be the Republican nominee to take on Senator Phillip Puckett this fall,” said Groten. “Adam will be the strongest candidate Senator Puckett has faced since he was first elected to the Senate. On key issues from taxes to protecting our freedoms, from preserving jobs to fighting unnecessary regulation, Adam will be a better Senator for the people of Southwest Virginia. The Republican party is united behind, and energized by, Adam’s candidacy. We will be working very hard for him in the coming months.”

Light was thankful for the nomination and looked forward to the campaign ahead. He looked forward to running an aggressive campaign to illustrate the real differences between him and Senator Puckett.

“I am humbled to be the Republican nominee for the State Senate in this district,” Light stated. “I look forward to continuing to meet voters from one end of district to the other to discuss with them my conservative plan to hold down taxes, protect jobs throughout the region and preserve the freedoms and liberties that Southwest Virginia families hold dear.”

The 38th Senate District includes the Counties of Bland, Buchanan, Dickenson, Pulaski, Russell and Tazewell, the Cities of Norton and Radford and portions of Smyth and Wise Counties.

# # #

Adam is a great candidate and I predict he will be giving Senator Puckett a run for his money. Adam has already been extensively traveling the very large 38th District.

Israel O’Quinn has just announced his candidacy for the Republican nomination for the 5th District House of Delegates seat.

More details later.

UPDATE:
Israel O’Quinn announced this morning in Bristol that he is seeking the Republican nomination in the 5th House of Delegates district.  After redistricting the 5th includes:

  All of Grayson County; all of the Cities of Bristol and Galax; part of Smyth County comprised of the Adwolfe (701), Chilhowie (301), Konnarock (703), Royal Oak West (602), Seven Mile Ford (201), and St. Clair (302) Precincts; and part of Washington County comprised of the Clinchburg (201), Damascus (502), Glade Spring (401), Green Cove (504), Hayter’s Gap (203), High Point (701), John Battle (703), Meadowview (402), Rhea Valley (501), and Watauga (301) Precincts.

Israel has previously worked on many Republican campaigns across Virginia.  He was part of Jerry Kilgore’s campaigns for Attorney General and Governor.  He also worked for the Attorney General’s Office.  Later, Israel was the Political Director for a period of time with the Republican Party of Virginia.  He presently works in government and community relations with K-VA-T, the parent corporation of Food City stores, which operates over 100 supermarkets that are located in Virginia, Kentucky, and Tennessee.