Category: Elections
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Republicans Still Fighting in the Fifth District
by Dick Hall-Sizemore Republicans are still fighting each other over the primary results in the Fifth Congressional District. As reported by Cardinal News, Bob Good is still contesting his loss in the Congressional primary and a candidate for Lynchburg City Council has filed suit to invalidate the results. According to the latest tally, Good, the…
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The June 18 Primary: Money, Trump and Identity Politics
By Ken ReidIt’s not an exact science to get lessons from primaries, where turnout can be as low as 10% and when voters can choose which primary they want to vote in (as is the case in Virginia). But I will go ahead and play political scientist here and give you some takeaways from what…
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Cao Sweeps the GOP Primary… Almost
by James A. Bacon Hung Cao won the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate yesterday by an overwhelming margin, collecting nearly 62% of the votes in a five-man race. Scott Parkinson trailed in the No. 2 position at 11%. Cao could almost claim a sweep. He reaped a majority of votes in every locality but one.…
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Anarchy Is Loosed Upon the World
by James A. Bacon Everything that’s wrong with politics in America has been on display in Central Virginia this past week. Militants from the deep-blue Peoples Republic of Charlottesville and activists from one of the reddest congressional districts in the country collided like flint and rock. Republican candidates for Congress continued their fratricidal struggle over…
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Richmond’s Electoral Woes Continue
by Dick Hall-Sizemore The situation with the Richmond city registrar just keeps getting worse. For once, however, one cannot blame the city administration or city council. The registrar is appointed by, and answers to, the Richmond electoral board, which is comprised of two Republicans and one Democrat. Nevertheless, the city can exercise some control over…
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The Cost of Not Voting
by Joe Fitzgerald If I were a more articulate man, I could explain what sorry shape the governments of Harrisonburg and Rockingham County are in right now. Rational people have little doubt about the county. The biggest government expense, the school system, is currently being run by people who do not know what they are…
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GOP Clobbered Dems in Primary Turnout
by James A. Bacon I’m no reader of the political tea leaves, and I will willingly defer to those better informed than I am, but it appears that the presidential primary vote in Virginia showed a greater level of enthusiasm for Republicans than for Democrats. That may simply reflect the fact that in the Republican…
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Anti-Trump, Anti-Biden Votes in Super Tuesday Primaries: Will They Sway the November Election?
by Ken Reid Depending on what media you watch and read, the Super Tuesday primary results are the death knell for either presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump or for incumbent Democrat Joe Biden, who is likely to be renominated, too. Both candidates had sizable votes against them in their respective primaries. I am not a…
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A Never Again Trumper’s Take on Haley’s Event
By Steve Haner We’ve already voted, but my wife and I were in the Henrico County crowd today to hear Nikki Haley make her case for support in Tuesday’s Virginia GOP primary. Early voting continues through Saturday, but if you wait until Tuesday and come to Henrico’s Maybeury Elementary, I’ll be there asking which ballot…
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Must Be an Election Year: Kaine’s Staff Is Answering the Phone!
by Scott Dreyer Life is full of surprises, and I got one today when I called the Roanoke office of US Senator Tim Kaine (D-VA)… and a real voice picked up! The receptionist was friendly and professional as I requested the senator help block the proposed Kroger buy-out of Albertson’s. I then asked her why…
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Swallow the Money, Part 3 of 3
by Joe Fitzgerald VPAP and CFReports let you go from “How about that?” to “Oh, my God!” in 5.2 seconds. They’re attractive to the kind of nerds who used to go through the encyclopedia or the World Almanac. Yes, I did. Why do you ask? One local PAC became a subject for a dive into…
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Swallow the Money, Part 2 of 3
by Joe Fitzgerald There’s a donor in CFReports named “no name.” He, she, or it is listed on the report as “Name, No.” This same donor is called “Unknown Entity” in VPAP. Or perhaps “Entity, Unknown.” (VPAP and CFReports are described in Part 1.) This donor’s address shows up as Matt Cross’s house on his…
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One Surprise on Virginia’s Primary Ballot
by Kerry Dougherty I’d almost forgotten that last summer I signed up to be an absentee voter. Until this arrived in yesterday’s mail, that is. Yep, it’s a Republican primary ballot. Early voting starts Friday for Super Tuesday and Virginia is one of 15 states participating in what promises to be an essentially empty exercise on…
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The Monster at the End of the Book
by Dick Hall-Sizemore We have created a monster. The genie is out of the bottle. Whatever metaphor you want to use, there is no going back and the way forward poses great dangers. The monster or genie is AI. The media are full of the promising possibilities of AI improving our lives—great leaps in medicine,…
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A Doggone Tale
by Dick Hall-Sizemore A recent special election in Southside Virginia is a stark illustration of how a small special interest group can exercise out-sized power. In mid-December, long-time state Sen. Frank Ruff (R-Mecklenburg), announced he was resigning from the Senate, shortly after having been re-elected to a seventh term. He had received a diagnosis of…