Feda Morton: A Conservative Fighter Running for Congress

Tomorrow Virginians in the 5th Congressional District have the opportunity to capture the fighting spirit of the 9th District by nominating Feda Morton. Feda is a principled conservative who has been active in the party for years at all levels. She has been endorsed by conservative leaders including Morton Blackwell, Patrick McSweeney, Mike Farris, and Del. Brenda Pogge.

Below is the speech Feda gave at the 5th District Congressional Convention. (The nerve of someone filming a congressional district convention...) The speech is a passionate commitment to fight for our conservative principles. We need people with this kind of passion, and clear understanding of our conservative principles in congress. We need the 5th District to nominate Feda Morton to run for congress tomorrow.

Why Joshua Solovskoy Resigned as Michael McPadden's Campaign Manager

To quote Solovskoy about his resignation from the McPadden campaign: "Through the time and effort I have discovered that liberty to some is not necessarily what liberty is to others. Within the liberty movement there is a wing that seeks personal liberties that are contrary to the scriptures. As a Pastor I cannot affiliate myself with any ideologies that are in opposition to scriptures." Read his complete blog post on this matter.

A source close to the McPadden campaign verified that it was McPadden and Solovskoy's differing beliefs in regard to homosexual "rights" that led to Solovskoy' resignation.

Greg Habeeb for 6th District GOP Committee Chairman, Bill Stanley for 5th District GOP Committee Chairman

As some of you may have heard Salem GOP Committee Chairman Greg Habeeb has announced his candidacy for Chairman of the 6th District GOP Committee and Franklin County GOP Chairman Bill Stanley has announced his candidacy for Chairman of the 5th District GOP Committee. Both Bill and Greg have been hands down two of the best, if not the two best, unit chairs in the Republican Party of Virginia over the past few years and both were named "Unit Chairman of the Year" by their respective congressional district committees.

Many of you know Bill Stanley from his unsuccessful bid for RPV Chair last May as well as his work as Chairman of the Franklin County GOP Committee.  As a local unit chair Bill has without a doubt distinguished himself and his committee as one of the best in the state and was named "Unit Chair of the Year" for the 5th District two years running. In Franklin Country, under the leadership of Bill Stanley, the GOP Committee has seen their fundraising and membership increase greatly. I worked on Bill's campaign for RPV Chairman and I can think of no better person to lead the 5th District GOP or RPV for that matter. Youth is something the RPV and GOP as a whole needs desperately. Like Greg, Bill will bring much needed youth to the leadership of the 5th District Committee. Additionally, there is much tension between Republicans in the 5th District at the moment as you may well be very familiar with via the massive amount of news media and blog coverage. The Republicans in the 5th District need an experienced leader with enthusiasm as well as new and innovative ideas who can bring the party back together to work for our common goals. That experienced leader is Bill Stanley. I encourage any and all 5th District Republicans to support Bill Stanley to be the new 5th District GOP Committee Chairman.

Bill's website from his run for RPV Chairman is still up and you can click here to access it. While I have not confirmed this, I will be willing to bet that Bill will use many of the same ideas from his run for RPV Chair that you find on the above website if he is elected 5th District Chair.

Greg has done an outstanding job as Salem committee chair and was recognized as "Unit Chairman of the Year" for the entire Republican Party of Virginia in 2008.  I fully endorse his candidacy and encourage any other Republicans in the 6th District to attend the 6th District convention and support Greg. He will bring new ideas, enthusiasm, and much needed youth to the 6th District Committee and State Central. I would also like to add that if it wasn't for the enthusiasm and welcoming attitude of people like Greg I would have been reluctant to get involved with the local GOP in Roanoke during my breaks.

Here is Greg's email to 6th District Republicans:

Fellow 6th District Republicans

It was great to see so many of you in Richmond this weekend for the Inauguration of Bob McDonnell, Bill Bolling and Ken Cuccinelli. We face tough times as a Commonwealth and as a Nation but there is no question that we are now led by the best possible team in Richmond. I wish I could say the same thing for Washington. At least we have a great Congressman, Bob Goodlatte, doing his best to fight back the Obama/Pelosi/Reid agenda.

While this is a great time to be a Republican in Virginia, we must admit that for years our Republican elected officials have grown detached from their constituents and moved away from the fundamental principles on which this Party was formed. We lost our identity, we diluted our brand and we've paid for it electorally. The desire to restore our party to its core principles and rebuild our brand was the driving force behind my deciding to run for Salem Republican Committee Chair a few years back. Over the last 2 years, we have made great strides in Salem. Our Committee has grown exponentially in numbers without sacrificing our principles. We have put an infrastructure in place that has local Democrats panicked and scrambling to catch up. We have raised our profile through traditional and new media. We have raised money and supported our candidates while still holding them accountable. Simply put, we have made our Committee relevant.

Believe me, these efforts by so many on the ground have not gone unnoticed. There is a new buzz about the Republican Party in Salem. We have won elections with record numbers. Elected officials are now reaching out for our support and recognizing the need to stay in touch with those of us in the grassroots. Ultimately, we were humbled to be named the 2008 Unit Chairman of the Year for the entire Commonwealth and the 2009 Unit Chairman of the Year for the 6th District. I say "we" because those awards are a reflection of the work done by dozens and dozens of people.

As I pondered what was next, many of you have approached me about running for Chair in the 6th District. I must admit, this was not initially on my radar screen but, the more I thought about it, the more I believed that we could bring a new energy, purpose and focus to the Committee. We could provide the type of leadership necessary to restore unity where it is lacking in the 6th and build on our already solid infrastructure. Over the last few weeks I have spoken to numerous grassroots and elected leaders in the 6th and I have been humbled by the positive response I have received.

It is for all of these reasons that I am announcing my candidacy for the Chair of the 6th District Republican Committee to be elected at our Convention on May 22nd in Lynchburg.

Over the next few weeks I hope to speak to all of you to let you know some of my ideas and to get feedback from each of you. Until then, know that my goal in running for this position is not power, control or personal gain. I am doing this to support you, the grassroots leaders in the 6th District, and to continue to make the 6th District the strongest Republican District in the State.

Thanks and I look forward to speaking with you soon.

Greg

Cross posted @ Roanoke On The Right

Should Conservatives Support Robert Hurt for Congress?

The dynamic in the race for the Republican nomination in the 5th District seems to be anybody but Hurt. His votes for the Warner tax increases, as well as the Northern Virginia Trasnsportation Authority are making many people raise their eyebrows (to say the least).

Robert Hurt is addressing this issue by saying it is a vote he regrets. His campaign manager, Chris LaCivita, argues that Sen. Hurt was misled, and if he knew there was really a surplus he wouldn't have voted for it. He is also arguing that people are just cherrypicking a couple votes out of over 5,000 votes Se. Hurt cast. Sen. Hurt has also signed the Americans for Tax Reform pledge to not raise taxes that is sponsored by Grover Norquist.

To say that harking back to this vote is cherrypicking is to ignore the political situation surrounding the Warner tax increase vote. This was one of the bigget votes in the state senate in years. Activists, and the RPV chair Kate Obenshain were calling on the state senate to not pass the tax increases. A western style wanted posters were created with the faces of all the Republican state senators who voted for the tax increases, and an effort was made to primary many of those state senators in the 2007 election cycle. Some would also consider the vote a significant reason the Republicans lost the state senate in 2007.

To brush off a vote like this by saying you regret it and wouldn't have done it if you had all the information is like saying you wouldn't have voted for the first bailout if you had all the information. That is not the kind of person we want. We want someone who will get it right when it comes time to vote.

It is almost as inspiring as supporting someone for president who supported the Gang of 14 while in the U.S. Senate, and we all saw how well that worked out.

That said for Lawrence Verga and others to compare what is going on in the 5th district to NY-23 inaccurately represents both what happened in New York, and what is going on in Virginia. In New York the Republican leaders chose someone who was more liberal than the Democrat, and was endorsed by the SEIU and ACORN. In Virginia we have someone who has a long record of service in the state legislature, and besides those two very important votes it is a very good record. He is socially conservative, and he is pro gun. These things could not be said about the Republican nominee in NY-23.

Robert Hurt is someone who will very understandably have a difficult time energizing and inspiring the grassroots. Is he someone I would support in a primary? No. While he will not be a conservative leader in Congress, he will be much better than Tom Periello, and will do a good job, and therfore we can and must support him as conservatives if he wins the nomination. If our goal truly is to advance conservative values, then if we fail to defeat him in the primary, we must back Sen. Hurt in the general election, and make sure he wins. To support a third party in the 5th district guarantees we will lose the race, and hurts the conservative cause.

Convention or Primary in the 5th Congressional District?

This Saturday the Republican 5th District Congressional Committee will decide whether to use a primary or convention to nominate their candidate for congress. (Due to recent party plan amendments a canvass could be used, but there seems to be little desire by members of the committee for it.) In Virginia this question is even more important because we have no party registration, and all our primaries are open.

Earlier an article was posted on this blog by one of the conventions biggest advocates in the state party David C. Ray (State Central Member from the 10th District). It makes the best most thorough case for conventions, and should read by all members of the 5th District Committee before Saturdays vote.

There are two reasons why I think a convention is particularly important in this case.

1. It allows the party to choose its own nominee.

In the 5th District the Democrats already have their nominee, and Tom Periello is highly unlikely to draw a primary opponent. There is a long history of partisans on both sides voting in the other sides primary, and with the Democrats not having to hold a primary the chance of Democrats helping decide the Republicans nominee is very high. If the person who runs against Tom Periello will really be the Republican nominee he must be chosen by Republicans.

2. It will make sure the nominee to receive over 50% of the vote.

In the 5th District there are about 7 republicans running for the Republican nomination. While some people do receive more than 50% in a three way race (Steve Hunt in the 37th Senate District) it is very difficult for a candidate to top 50% when more than five candidates are involved. The nominee could easily win in a primary with only 30% of the vote. Will the party really be able to unite behind someone if one third or less of the party nominates him? With a convention 50% +1 of the convention is required for a candidate to win. This helps make sure that the eventual nominee is someone a majority of the activists are at lease somewhat happy with.

This Saturday I hope the 5th District Committee chooses to nominate its candidate through a convention. I have had no time to look at all the candidates to see who a convention would help or hurt, I generally believe that a convention is the best way for Republicans to nominate their candidates.