2009 Convention Results (With CD Breakdowns)

The grand total results for the convention have been available for a while. I first saw them on the AP. Pat Mullins also e-mailed out the final results for each race a few days ago. Also the congressional district breakdown for the attorney general race was first released published by Not Larry Sabato and Shaun Kenney. However here is the results with the congressional district breakdowns for each of the three races. (To the best of my knowledge it is the first time the complete results have been posted online.) I was waiting for a little while on talking about the results in the hope that I could get hold of the results from the different units and analyze that. It seems however that certain members of the executive committee very vehemently opposed releasing these results and they are unavailable.

The first thing about these results is how well each of the victors did. Bolling, Cuccinelli, and Mullins won by 84%, 57%, and 70% respectively. It was also very gracious of Muldoon, Brownlee, Foster, and Stanley to concede and pledge to work for and with their former opponents. I am confident the success of our nominees and the graciousness of their challengers will unite our party over the summer, and towards victory in the fall.

In the Lieutenant Governor's race a couple things stand out. First off Bolling didn't do poorly in any congressional district. The lowest he received in any cd was 73.3%. Any candidate would love for that to be their lowest return in a district. Another thing that stands out is how poorly Patrick Muldoon did in the 9th district. In his home district he received 11.19% of the vote, and it was his 9th strongest congressional district. There were only two districts where he received a lower percent of the vote: the 8th and 3rd districts. I was honestly shocked as I expected Muldoon would beable to bring a lot of supporters to the convention from the 9th. Either the letter sent out by the 9th district leaders did in Muldoon, or he is just not very popular or well known in his home district. The other interesting thing is that Muldoon took the highest percent in the 10th district. With 202.39 weighted votes he took 26.7%, 10.33% better than he did statewide. I'm not sure exactly why Mulddon did that well in the 10th district, but maybe 10th district voters are itching for a change and are becoming sick of the establishment for some reason.

In the Attorney General race Ken Cuccinelli won eight of the eleven congressional districts, and came in second in the three he lost. John Brownlee won the 9th and the 4th, and Dave Foster won the 8th. There were also only two congressional districts Ken won where he received less than 50%. They were the 3rd and the 5th districts. Keeping Ken below 50% in the congressional districts he won was an essential part of the Brownlee/Foster plan to force a second ballot. They were atleast successful in two of the eight districts Ken won. Ken took over 65% in the 7th, 11th, and 1st districts and over 60% in the 10th and 6th districts. While Ken's home district is the 11th, the 7th gave Ken the highest percentage of the vote based in part on a surprisingly large victory in Chesterfield Co. Both Ken and Dave Foster won their home districts, the 11th, and 8th. John Brownlee only pulled 38.45% in the 6th district where he resides. Ken was able to win Salem and Roanoke cities, and almost took Roanoke county from John Brownlee. While John lives in the 6th district some would consider the 9th his home district since he has worked their as a prosecutor for a while, and he was able to win the 9th with 63.03% of the vote. However a win in the 9th only does you so much when it has about 700 less delegate votes than the 11th district.

From a campaigning perspective one of the important lessons of Ken's convention victory is the importance of building a statewide network. In a primary you can jack up vote totals in high density localities to win. In a convention each locality is assigned a certain number of votes. This forces you to compete in every location if you want to win, and you need to try to get a significant percentage of each localities votes. Ken's statewide network that the convention forced him to create enabled him to compete in every single district, and will hopefully be the backbone that propels him to victory in November. Ken's extensive political connections as an active state senator almost guaranteed him victories in Loudon, Fairfax, and Prince William counties as soon as he announced. Having the political connections heading into the race enabled him to win these three large localities easily. Political connections are something any candidate needs to develop before running an effective campaign for statewide office.

While the chairmanship race was more of a contest than the Lieutenant Governor's race, Pat Mullins and co pretty well swept the floor. There are two things that jump out though. Bill Stanley almost won his home congressional district. He took 48.84% in the 5th district which is a very solid showign for an underdog with only three weeks to campaign. The congressional district where Stanley did second best was the 11th district where he took 36.05%. The 11th district is the district Prince William County votes in, and it was one of the few ways Jeff Frederick's supporters had an opportunity at the convention to protest what happened to Jeff this past spring.

That's as much as I can draw out of the congressional breakdowns for the convention results. I'm hcurious to here what you think the results say. Also it would be very nice in future conventions to have access to unit results so that we can analyze them and see where candidates strengths are in each district, and what correlations and trends the unit results tell us. Hopefully this is something we will have access to after the next convention whenever that may be.

On one final note it will be interesting to see if Deeds and his statewide network and connections can pull of a victory tomorrow.

Cuccinelli: Thank You-What a Weekend!

June 3, 2009

Dear Fellow Virginians,

First and foremost, I want to thank every single person that came to the convention this past weekend - it was a raging success in every way.

I appreciate the hundreds of volunteers that made our victory this past weekend possible, the thousands of Virginians that had sufficient faith and trust in me to not only give me their vote, but to spend all day Saturday to do it, and the thousands of other Republicans that gave our whole ticket a huge bump coming out Richmond!

Say what you want about conventions, primaries, etc., they are tons of fun, exciting and a great way to get several thousand people fired up for five months of campaigning!

Second of all, I need to extend compliments to John Brownlee and Dave Foster. I have been involved in GOP politics as a volunteer and a candidate for 18 years. I don't ever remember such a high quality, issue focused, party contest as the one the three of us just finished. None of us can take credit for that by ourselves - we all share it.

We had innumerable debates and candidate forums, and the level of debate was exceptional. We had so many debates that John finally started joking that we could all give each other's speeches. I think he was right!

John and Dave brought strong resumes and strong campaigns to this contest, and each of them have graciously offered their support and assistance. I'm going to need it!

I'm going to need your help too! The first help we need is donations. Our Democrat opponent has $900,000 more on hand than we do (he was unopposed for the Dems' nomination). Won't each of you please donate today?!? We have some catching up to do!

More details on going forward soon, but now, some funny war stories from the weekend!

Friday Night - Gala and BBQ

I appreciated the opportunity to speak at the Restore the Founders' Vision PAC BBQ on Friday night. I'm told there were 750 people there, though I could only see about 50 because the lights were 6 feet in front of my face blinding me. But there was no missing the response the crowd had to protecting the constitution and defending Virginia's sovereignty under the 10^th amendment. Wow!

I think people may be waking up, and we need them to if we're going to win in November.

Then I shot back to the Gala to join Teiro and talk up delegates after Gov. Romney finished his remarks. Talk about packed, they had to set up tables in the hallway! That's a great problem to have - overcrowding! Look out Dems!

Then came the suite...

The Sweet Suite

Okay, can I just say that you people are ravenous cannoli eaters? It was all gone in something like 30 minutes in the suite. My girls must make good cannoli (I wouldn't know, I didn't get any...)!

We also had to reorder food SIX times! They had to keep all the cooks late to keep up with our ravenous hoard. We packed the Hilton ballroom through much of the night, and people were very patient as I tried to get to talk to everyone in line (thank you all!).

At the doors of the ballroom, our volunteers were giving folks a Cuccinelli for AG sticker on the way in, and they went through over 2500! Zoiks! There were a lot of folks there Friday - very impressive.

Needless to say, I was getting a good feeling Friday night.

I also have to say, the Hilton was awesome. Just awesome. I don't like the price tag for the suite ($15,000 - donate please), but they did everything we asked of them fast and happily. Everything about the Hilton beats out the Marriott: bigger rooms, faster and friendlier service, accommodating as they could be, and better food.

Saturday

A confession: I hadn't finished my speech before Saturday (and I was up until 2 a.m. Friday night working on it after the suite), and I wrote it with variations depending on circumstances.

So, I grabbed breakfast in the AFP suite in the Hilton ballroom, and started talking folks up. Teiro went over to the RPV breakfast to chat with delegates (talk about a trooper, Teiro was Wonder Woman all weekend).

Then Teiro and I worked our way down the street to the coliseum, chatting people up along the way. We finished our waters outside (grrrrr), and went in and split up to keep chatting with delegates. This continued until speakers started coming out and it became rude to talk during speeches...

That's when I went into our war room to finish my speech during Hannity and McDonnell's speeches.

After practicing downstairs once, I printed out the speech and then went into the halls to work delegates. I was also in the coliseum when the nominations committee report was read, and the explosion when we were announced as a candidate gave me rising confidence (I was ready to vote by noise-meter).

Eventually, it was my turn to speak, and we started with the unusual audio clip and the flags. I approached the podium toward the end of the audio clip and noticed the clock was WAY below where I had expected it to be. Where I expected it to read about 10 seconds gone, it read 40 seconds gone.

So, I was immediately in speech-cutting mode, before I even opened my mouth. Whoops. What had happened was good old fashioned miscommunication. It had been my understanding that my 10 minute clock started running when I set foot on the stage, but it started when the audio clip started. Regardless, I knew I didn't get to argue it at that point! Ouch.

So, while I was giving it, I was cutting the speech on the fly. I was also enjoying the view, the flags, the people, and the energy was almost visible. Looking back, that view was truly something, and I'm very grateful for the memory.

I wrapped up my speech with a few seconds remaining and the noise was deafening. Teiro came out and then the kids... which led to the next either miscommunication or whatever, not sure. The kids were on stage only about 15 seconds and the noise was still going when they started announcing Dave to speak.

Now, this bothered me in two respects, first of all, it wasn't fair to Dave, as Teiro and I were herding our kids off while Dave had to navigate through all of us to get started and I doubt it was the kind of "clean," i.e., unimpeded, start that he had planned or wanted. Second, that was the ONLY thing the kids were publicly involved in, and I don't mind saying that I was upset that in their one moment, they were shoveled off stage so curtly. Oh well, they did enjoy it, so that was good, and we know the production folks were just trying to keep things moving.

Then came the craziness of voting and counting, and I had a strong sense that we were going to be okay on the first ballot.

Because I'd been totally focused on getting the votes needed to win, it was only at that point that I started to think about what I would say in an acceptance speech.

Then I was informed that some of the results were coming back in and John and Dave had decided to move for nomination by acclimation. This was a gracious gesture AND it saved people a LOT of time, as the counting clearly was going to take a while! Their remarks were very kind.

In the meantime, all was chaos back stage. It was a real scramble back there for the production folks, while I was relaxing with all of my family members that had come to Richmond and jotting down some quick thoughts for my remarks. By the way, please send in those postcards that I know you all took home from the convention!

Then came the acceptance speech - I tried to keep it as short as I could - and then it was rah-rah time with the whole ticket!

A thousand thank yous to people passing on the way out was not enough, but it had to do, as I was nearly numb from the day.

We went back to the hotel, gathered our thoughts and our kids, and went out to dinner. During dinner I got a phone call with a speaking opportunity at 1 p.m. THE NEXT DAY in Williamsburg, and so I took it, and we were off again!

What a whirlwind! Thanks again to everyone that came to the biggest convention anywhere in the free world in the last 15 years, and thanks to those who supported me for the nomination, but now I need to ask everyone for your support, as we can only win with a LOT of help from now through November.

I look forward to seeing you all soon!

Note to Facebook Friends

I don't think I will be able to answer my inbox any longer, as I'm just overwhelmed timewise. My apologies, but I wanted to let everyone know. I still hope folks will join! (http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/profile.php?id=523714007&ref=ts)

See you on the campaign trail!

Sincerely,

Senator Ken Cuccinelli II

Tell others to sign up for The Cuccinelli Compass at Senator Cuccinelli's Website:
http://www.Cuccinelli.com (look in the upper left corner)

Please donate at:

www.Cuccinelli.com/donations.htm

Authorized and Paid for by Ken Cuccinelli for Attorney General

Please do NOT "Reply" to this e-mail. Please direct your replies to KC4AG@Cuccinelli.com.

Thoughts on the RPV State Convention

Most of my thoughts on the first day I already posted. However I would like to add a few more thoughts and then list off the highlights from Saturday.

1. I think it is ironic that a party that supposedly believes in transparency in government has so little in its actual operations. While Kay Cole James is an impressive person she was selected as the chairman of the convention. Why did McDonnell have to send out an e-mail urging people to vote for her, and why was her name written in the convention program as the temporary chair? What difference would it have made to have a regular vote on the issue? The disdain the party leadership has for people thinking and acting independently was driven home when a congressional district chairman came down and asked another party leader if he should consolidate a large unit so they could shout down any amendment to the rules, or effort to put in a different convention chairman. Who cares what the people think let's script and direct them as much as possible. Again I think Kay Cole James is amazing. This is simply a comment about the state of our party leadership that selects a party chairman and convention chairman for us.
   
2. Some people jokingly referred to the convention building as the Temple of Bob McDonnell. This resulted from the fact that as an uncontested nominee he still won the sign war, and his staff were given special access to the convention hall that other campaign staff were not.
3. As a Cuccinelli volunteer I have to say it was a very impressive operation. Friday night with a number of our supporters attending gala's and dinners we put fliers on every seat in the convention hall in under an hour. While the blue and red shirted Cuccinelli volunteers weren't as distinct as the neon green Brownlee supporters, they were everywhere passing out stickers, brochures, flags, and keeping track of their delegations.
4. No matter how many things Republicans may disagree on or mess up, Republicans know how to be patriotic. Whether it was Lauren Giere, or the UVA acapella group singing the national anthem, reciting the pledge of allegiance with thousands of fellow Americans, the red white and blue everywhere, or Adnan Barqawi's speech Republicans know how to make one proud to be an American.
5. This was Cuccinelli's convention. He was the reason many of those delegates were their. If anyone doubted it before Saturday, the loud sustained applause that erupted when the nominations chair said his name reinforced the fact. Just like at the Dulles rally, he received louder applause than anyone else. Ken is bringing the excitement to this party right now.
   
6. Mike Farris's name recognition increased as a result of this convention. Bolling used Dr. Farris's endorsement repeatedly in the leadup to the convention and even mentioned him in his speech. (Bolling was also the only person to reference homeschooling in his speech. Thank you Bill for recognizing the importance of homeschooling.) Many people also mentioned how a certain energy has returned to the party that they hadn't seen since Dr. Farris ran in 1993. If Dr. Farris wants to run for office later this convention may of helped bring his name back into people's memories.
7. Convention speeches matter!! While the organization before and during a convention are critical so are the speeches given by the candidates. Bolling's speech reminded voters that he is a tried and true conservative who has accomplished many things for the party and has won elections. It was a very uplifting speech. Muldoon reinforced the fact that he was running a "slash and burn" campaign. His speech was vitriolic and one long hit piece on Bolling. He failed to ever bring up his own revord and accomplishments. It drew a number of boos and probably lost him votes. In the AG contest Brownlee gave a very solid speech. He didn't use notes or a podium which was very impressive. However he essentially gave his stump speech which many of the delegates had heard before. While Cuccinelli talked about the same issues he has discussed on the campaign trail, he went about it an entirely different way. Using the Don't Tread on Me flags was a stroke of genius. It played well to the audience and reminded the convention that Ken is the candidate who will fight to limit the size of government. Some suspect that the speech pushed Ken over the edge and gave him a first ballot win. The final speech to mention was Bill Stanley's speech. Few people knew Bill and he needed to wow the audience. While he gave a good speech, his poor clock management probably didn't help him.
8. I was very impressed with the RPV outreach to new media. They did a very good job with Blogger's Row, and the attention the candidates showed to the bloggers demonstrated that it wasn't just a show.
9. Overall it was an excellent convention that recharged and united the party as move forward to victory in November.
   

All Three Republican Attorney General Candidates Agree...

Exactly three weeks away from the convention all three of the Republican Attorney General candidates agree on something. Bob McDonnell will make an excellent governor. If you would like to read their endorsements please click here. No matter if you are supporting Brownlee, Cuccinelli, or Foster at the convention, I hope you will stand behind Bob McDonnell over the coming months as we work to get him elected.

Cuccinelli on the Issue of Life

The second in a series of issue positions

from the Cuccinelli for Attorney General Campaign

Ken Cuccinelli is unabashedly Pro-life. It's a position he has always had - and a belief that's based on more than just words.

It's one thing to say you're "pro-life" as a candidate for nomination to public office - everyone that wants a Republican nomination says it. It's completely different if your words are backed with action and an actual record.

How many times have pro-lifers been disappointed after electing someone who kept insisting that he was pro-life during a campaign?

As a member of the State Senate, Ken Cuccinelli has not just voted right, he has been a leader on initiatives that cover the whole spectrum of the abortion issue and is a recognized leader on the issue of life.

• Ken has introduced legislation to ensure that abortion clinics are licensed and subject to the same regulations as outpatient surgical hospitals;
• Ken authored the Senate version of the parental consent law;
• Ken has led the way with efforts to de-fund planned parenthood of your tax dollars;
• Ken has led the Senate effort to successfully block embryonic stem cell research;
• Ken has led the fight to ban the gruesome procedure of "partial-birth" abortion;
• Ken led the fight on the Senate floor to adopt the "Choose Life" license plate, which was just signed into law. Proceeds from the sale of these plates will go to crisis-pregnancy centers across the Commonwealth.

These are just a few of the reasons why such notable conservative organizations as the Eagle Forum Virginia PAC, and the Republican National Coalition for Life have ENDORSED Ken's campaign for Attorney General.

Additionally, the Family Foundation honored Ken with their prestigious "Legislator of the year award" for 2008 for his efforts to strip planned parenthood of state tax funding.

Would Ken Cuccinelli Really Have a Negative Effect on Bob McDonnell?

As a blogger who is still neutral in the Attorney General primary, RedNova had some very good analysis on the claim that Cuccinelli will pull down Bob McDonnell.

Would Ken Cuccinelli really have a negative effect on Bob McDonnell?

Posted by theyoungreaganite under 2009, 2009 Governor's races, Bob McDonnell, John Brownlee, Ken Cuccinelli, Tim Kaine | Tags: 2009 Governors race, Bob McDonnell, John Brownlee, Ken Cuccinelli, Tim Kaine, Virginia Politics | 
 

Its no great secret that Bob McDonnell would prefer to have John Brownlee on the ticket in November than Ken Cuccinelli, and so do many others. A recent quote from Loudoun Insider over at Too Conservative shares seems to be representative of the feelings many Brownlee supporters have. Its the idea that Ken Cuccinelli will bring the ticket down as a whole.

Here is the post from Loudoun Insider

“Open your eyes and be realistic.  Cuccinelli not only loses us the AG slot, he likely brings down McDonnell and Bolling with him.  It will be far far too easy for the opposition to paint the ticket as a bunch of out of touch social conservatives intent on invading your bedrooms.  Taliban Bob will be back along with Ayatollah Cuccinelli.” (bolding added )

Its a powerful sentiment and may give the other side some ammunition. But will KC actually drag down the ticket if the nominee?

I am going to have to say no, and it has nothing to do with candidate preference. Its has been proven in  political science that candidate up ticket in state wide elections has the ability to effect the performance down ticket (rare exceptions do happen, such as Mark Warner’s big margin of victory when compared to President Obama’s).

We can look at the results of the 2005 gubernatorial election results to see what happens. Mr Kilgore managed to run such a awful campaign it cost him a 6 points loss in that election.

But what happened down ticket? Bill Bolling and Bob McDonnell both won, but won by less than a full percent in both instances. Were they weak terrible candidates or did they suffer from a up ticket weight?

Democrats love to point out that McDonnell and Bolling barely won in 2005, and that they are not as strong because of it. The fact they held off the “Kilgore effect” and still pulled it out really says something of the campaigners they are. Byrne and Deeds should be ashamed they couldnt ride the Kaine wave.

But Bolling and McDonnell should have helped make it closer for Kilgore in accordance to the logic espoused by certain Brownlee supporters. At the end of the day, McDonnell’s performance in the general will be what sways voters to vote republican down ticket.

You can make the argument that KC is too conservative too win state wide, but I do believe the idea he will hold McDonnell down is a little disingenuous.

With that said. I am one of the few authors left on the blogosphere who is still choosing to remain neutral in this AG race, and It will take me a while before I fully endorse a candidate. But, I will be addressing some of the major arguments of all the campaigns over the next few weeks until I endorse somebody.

Cuccinelli's Response to Brownlee's Criticism of his Support for the Triggerman Rule

In recent weeks Brownlee has been using a line accusing Cuccinelli of siding with Tim Kaine on the death penalty in opposing the overturn of the triggerman law. Today, on the same day this rule was once again overturned by the House of Delegates, Cuccinelli issued a response to this charge in the Cuccinelli Compass.

February 8, 2009 Dear Fellow Virginians, As we continue to travel the Commonwealth to participate in forums and debates, I welcome the opportunity to discuss directly with you my positions on the issues we face in Virginia. Unfortunately, in campaigns, sometimes our positions on important issues are deliberately distorted by others. For some time now, John Brownlee has deliberately distorted my position on the death penalty. As a candidate for Attorney General, I do not take distortions and misrepresentations lightly, and neither should you. Virginians have grown weary of distortions and half truths in politics, and unfortunately, this is not the first time this has happened in this race. The last time he did something like this, I called him on the phone and discussed it with him personally. But when these sorts of distortions continue, my response is not to distort things myself, but to point out my competitor's distortions. That let's you, the voters of Virginia, factor this information into your decision about who to support for AG. Let's face it, when you vote for someone for office, you get more than a package of positions, you get that person too. So you have the information yourself, I have always been a supporter of Virginia's death penalty law. In the Senate, I have consistently fought against Democrats' efforts to impose a death penalty moratorium - and I have opposed efforts to allow endless appeals in death penalty cases. As a State Senator, I have voted to extend the death penalty to people who murder trial witnesses, judges and law enforcement officers. And as your Attorney General, I am committed to upholding the death penalty verdicts of our juries and will work to defend and strengthen our capital punishment law from intrusions and attempts by the left to derail it. I also have supported and will continue to support the death penalty under the current exceptions to the "triggerman rule" for (1) terrorism (including the beltway sniper case), (2) murder for hire, and (3) criminal enterprises/gangs. However, there have been legislative attempts to completely eliminate the triggerman rule, which I believe would be too broad an expansion. That's the only expansion of the death penalty that I have ever opposed, while supporting other expansions and always defending our current death penalty statute. So the next time you hear John Brownlee or one of his surrogates giving a distorted rendition of my position supporting capital punishment, print this out and hand it to Mr. Brownlee.

Brownlee's New List of Endorsement

Today seems to officially be AG Candidates Endorsement Announcement Day.  Earlier today Cuccinelli announced a couple more key endorsements, and then this afternoon Brownlee announced that "Almost every Republican leader in Virginia's Fightin' Ninth Congressional District has joined Team Brownlee and endorsed John to be our next Attorney General."  

The following is a list of Brownlee's supporters form the 9th Congressional District copied straight from the e-mail he sent out.

ALLEGHANY / COVINGTON: Loren Newman, Unit Chair   BLAND COUNTY: Jack Morgan, Unit Chair; Rebecca Johnson, Clerk of Court; Sheriff Jerry Thompson    BRISTOL CITY: Joyce Kistner, Unit Chair   BUCHANAN COUNTY: Jerry Lester, Unit Chair; Tamara Neo, Commonwealth's Attorney CARROLL COUNTY: Marion Alderman, former Unit Chair; Gregory Goad, Commonwealth's Attorney   CRAIG COUNTY: Don Bishop, Unit Chair   DICKENSON COUNTY: Randy Davis, Unit Chair   FLOYD COUNTY: Valencia Kurkek, Vice Unit Chair; Bob Smith, Vice Unit Chair   GALAX CITY: Mike Stevens, Unit Chair                             GILES COUNTY: Mae Midkiff, Unit Chair   GRAYSON COUNTY: Delegate Bill Carrico   LEE COUNTY: Damie Carter, Unit Chair   MONTGOMERY COUNTY: Patty Manthe, Unit Chair   NORTON CITY: Carol Caruso, Unit Chair   PATRICK COUNTY: Beth Stanley, Unit Chair   PULASKI COUNTY: Jessee and Debbie Ring   RADFORD CITY: Sheriff Mark Armentrout, Unit Chair   RUSSELL COUNTY: Eugene Compton, Unit Chair   SCOTT COUNTY: John Kilgore, Unit Chair; Delegate Terry Kilgore   SMYTH COUNTY: Adam Tolbert, Unit Chair; Jeff Hutton, Vice Unit Chair   TAZEWELL COUNTY: Aaron Roberts, Unit Chair; T. Shea Cook, former Ninth CD Chair   WASHINGTON COUNTY: Gary Rose; Tricia Phipps Moore, Clerk of Court   WISE COUNTY: Ben Boggs, Unit Chair   WYTHE COUNTY: Gerald Mabe, Commonwealth's Attorney; Sam Crockett, County Treasurer

After reading the e-mail, certain snide comments like the fact that it takes more than one congressional district to win, Ken has a significant number of endorsements from all over the state, not just his home town, endorsements from South West Virginia are nice, but there aren't many delegate votes there, and atleast Ken could get the chair of his own local committee to endorse him.  While these thoughts popped into my head, I won't say them, or maybe Brownlee will release a nother list of endorsements that begins to rival Ken's endorsement list.

New Cuccinelli Unit Chair Endorsements

Yesterday the unit chairs from Roanoke Co, and Chesterfield Co., Graham Leonard, and Donald Williams endorsed Ken Cuccinelli.  If Brownlee can't even get the chairman of his own local committee to endorse him, I wonder who he has endorsing him.  We can only wonder as Brownlee has no list of endorsements on his website.

The campaign now has endorsements from the five units with the most votes at the convention: Fairfax Co, City of Virginia Beach, Chesterfield Co, Henrico Co, and Prince William Co.  The campaign also has endorsements from ten of the fifteen largest units.  Too see a list of Ken's other endorsements, check here.

My Speech at the CRFV State Convention

On Saturday I had the great honor and privilege of being able to speak on behalf of my political hero, Ken Cuccinelli, at the College Republican Federation of Virginia State Convention.  At the start of the convention John Brownlee addressed the assembled delegates, followed by Dave Foster.  Sen. Cuccinelli was unable to attend the meeting so I spoke on his behalf, and shared why I am supporting him in this race.  

In all honesty I was fairly nervous heading into the speech, especially as I only realized what I was supposed to do the previous afternoon.  However many of my friends were praying for me, and God blessed me.  I know I could have delivered it better, but a lot of people really liked the speech.  

After the speech Mr. Brownlee came up to me and congratulated me on giving a good speech.  He also said I have a good speaking voice and should consider becoming a lawyer.  One of his staff members also took the time to compliment me about the speech as well.  I'm thankful that while we can disagree sharply in this race we can still be civil and friendly about it.

Daniel Davies, a fellow PHC student, took a video of the speech, and I will post it as soon as we can get it on You Tube.  The rest of this article is the actual text of the speech.  I hope that after you read it, you will consider supporting Senator Cuccinelli for Attorney General.  (To read about what else happened at the CRFV convention, check here.)

Why I support Sen. Cuccinelli for Attorney General

By: Willie Deutsch

My name is Willie Deutsch, I am the 1^st Vice Chair of the Patrick Henry College Republicans.  Since Ken Cuccinelli was unable to attend this meeting, I am going to share with you the reasons I am supporting Sen. Cuccinelli for Attorney General, and why I hope you will support him as well.  As I begin I want to say that over the course of this campaign I have had the opportunity of interacting with both John Brownlee and Dave Foster.  They are both good men.  I am thankful that as a party we have three fine men running in this nomination contest.  However, I believe that Senator Cuccinelli is by far the best candidate in this race.  I first met Cuccinelli when he was running for reelection in 2007.  One of the things that stood out when I first met Ken was his belief that it is more important to stand for principle than to win elections.  Sadly the political process suffers from a lack of principled people in politics.

As we look at the recent success Democrats have had in Virginia, I believe that Democrats have only won statewide when Republicans forget their principles, and/or run lousy campaigns.  This is why Bob McDonnell and Bill Bolling won in 2005 while Jerry Kilgore lost, it also explains why George Allen lost in 2006, why we lost the state senate in 2007, and why Virginia’s electoral college votes went to Obama last year.  In Cuccinelli we have the opportunity to reverse the tide of Democratic wins in Virginia by nominating a proven conservative with a record of winning elections.

Throughout his career in the VA State Senate, Ken has fought for the conservative principles that attracted me to this party: limited government, life, the family, the 2^nd amendment, and the rule of law.  Even though he is the last of a dying breed of Republicans from Fairfax Co, he isn’t afraid to be a conservative leader in the state senate.  When Ken says that he is conservative, he has the record to back it up.

Ken believes in the importance of property rights, and as a result fought to strengthen Virginia’s property rights before Kelo, and was the author of the bill that denied localities the ability to exercise eminent domain simply because a public benefit would result.

Ken believes in the importance of protecting the unborn, and has fought for the unborn at every opportunity, including drafting Virginia’s parental notification law in 2003, and leading the fight to defund planned parenthood last session.

Ken believes in the importance of the family, and as a result sponsored the Virginia Marriage Amendment in the Senate, and actively campaigned for it all over the state.

Ken believes in the 2^nd Amendment and as a result has fought to repeal the ban on carrying a concealed weapon in restaurants, eliminate duplicate local background checks, and has become the point man on gun rights in the senate courts and justice committee.

Ken believes in fiscal responsibility, and as a result has voted against every tax increase, regularly submits budget cuts, and has never submitted an earmark request without submitting a request for an  equal budget cut.

While Brownlee and Foster are good men, neither of them can give examples of how they have fought to promote such a wide array of conservative values.  Ken has proven that when he is under fire, he stays true to his conservative principles.

Not only do I support Senator Cuccinelli because he is the candidate with a proven conservative record, I also believe our party should nominate him because he has demonstrated regularly that he can win tough campaigns.  It appears that whoever wins this nomination contest will have a tough general election race against Steve Shannon who already has a war chest of about $740,000.  Running against a tough Democrat opponent in a state that seems to be trending Democrat, we need someone who has demonstrated that he knows how to win elections.  That man is Senator Cuccinelli.  Since 2002 he has won 3 state senate races on conservative issues in Fairfax Co. against opponents who had more money than him. 

In 2002 he won his first state senate race while being outspent 2.5-1

In 2003 he won reelection wile being outspent 2-1

And in 2007 he was once again underfunded, and was a top target for the Democratic Party, and still won.

These victories are testaments to Senator Cuccinelli’s ability to run frugal grassroots campaigns with impressive ID and GOTV operations. 

Over the past month and a half Cuccinelli’s Attorney General Campaign has put an impressive grassroots campaign on display.  During the petition drive that concluded n the beginning of December, Cuccinelli’s attorney general campaign turned in more original signatures than any other campaign.  Under a week later Cuccinelli won the Republican Advance straw poll, an event in which John Brownlee enjoyed home field advantage.  Ken took 47% in the poll, 9% more than Brownlee.  A week and a half ago the campaigns turned in their finance reports for the past 6 months and Cuccinelli raised more money than the Brownlee and Foster campaigns combined, and in a true demonstration of the grassroots support for his campaign he had the most donors of the three candidates, over 600 more than Brownlee.       

Senator Cuccinelli has proven that he can win tough elections on state issues, something neither of the two other candidates had to do.  He has won three times running on conservative principles in Fairfax Co. against better funded candidates.  Ken is demonstrating in this nomination contest that he has an army of grassroots supporters who are willing to work tirelessly for him, and if our party nominates Ken, he will use his campaigning abilities and grassroots army to win the Attorney General’s office for the GOP.

By this time some of you are probably thinking, I know Ken is a great guy, so why doesn’t he stay in the senate and keep leading the fight for our values their?  When weighing weather or not to run for Attorney General, Ken realized that he could do more for the idea of limited government as Attorney General than as a state senator.  As a state senator, Ken is one of forty people.  As Attorney General, he is in charge of the office.  One of the important functions of the Attorney’s Generals office is to be the general counsel for other government agencies.  Ken believes that in this position he can use his influence as Attorney General to encourage other state agencies to reduce the unconstitutional layers of regulation and wasteful projects they engage in.  As a partner at Cuccinelli and Day, Ken has served as a general counsel for small and midsized businesses.  He wants to do the same type of work in the Attorney General’s office for state agencies and use that power to reduce the size of government. 

Who occupies the Attorney General’s office became even more important on Tuesday with the inauguration of Barack Obama.  With the Democrats running D.C. we can expect that some of the liberties we hold dear in this state will come under attack.  Our pro-life laws are under attack from the Freedom of Choice Act, and our state marriage amendment, right to work status, and pro-gun laws will all almost certainly come under attack.  It is important that our next Attorney General be a man who we can trust to defend these laws in the courts.  Ken wrote some of the laws that will come under attack, and has fought for these values in the senate.  I know he will fight to defend them through the court system if he becomes Attorney General.

While Ken has accomplished a lot as a state senator, he can accomplish even more as Attorney General.  He can use his role as the legal advisor to other governmental agencies to reduce the size of government.  He is also a man we can trust to defend Virginia’s conservative laws that will almost certainly be attacked by the federal government. 

On May 30^th this party will nominate Virginia’s next Attorney General.  We have the option to nominate a proven conservative who wins tough campaigns and turn the Democratic tide in Virginia.  I hope you will join me over the coming year in pouring your time and energy into making, Ken Cuccinelli, Virginia’s next Attorney General.  

Cuccinelli Outraises Brownlee

The filing reports for money raised by candidates for executive office between July 30th and December 31st were due last night.  During a fundraising period that included both the 2008 elections, and a recession, Ken Cuccinelli outraised John Brownlee.

During that period, Cuccinelli raised $225,244 and has $220,536.  In that same period, John Brownlee raised $111,714 and now has $116,589 cash on hand.  While $30,000 of Cuccinelli's total was a transfer from his state senate account, Cuccinelli still significantly outraised Brownlee. 

Not only did Cuccinelli out raise Brownlee, but in another demonstration of his strong grass roots support, he also outperformed in sheer number of donors.  Cuccinelli had a total of 939 donors while Brownlee had 277 donors.  Cuccinelli also outraised Brownlee 724 to 158 in donations under $100.  

These numbers are important for at least two reasons.  Cuccinelli's strong fundraising performance will be important for the general election since Steve Shannon is waiting on the Democratic ticket with a war chest that currently sits at $740,000.  The grassroots strength reflected in these numbers will help Ken overcome a financial deficit in the general election as it has in past elections.  These new fundraising numbers reflect just how strong the Cuccinelli campaign is.

Ken is 3-0 in demonstrations of the strengths of the Cuccinelli campaign.  He had the best showing in the petition drive in the beginning of December, won the Republican Advance strawpoll, and now had the best showing in this past financial period.  Now it is on to the delegate elections.    

Sources for this article include the Bearing Drift article, AP article, and VPAP reports for both Brownlee and Cuccinelli.

Attorney General Poll

Over the next week I will be taking my finals at Patrick Henry College. Therefore since finals are crucial to my grades, gpa, etc I will be focusing on my duties as a student over this next week.

I have posted a poll for the Republican Attorney General race that will expire when I am done with school. Please vote in it and leave a comment saying who you support and why. I look forward to seeing everyone's reason's for supporting different candidates.

As we have a competitive hard fought nomination battle over the next couple months, one thing we can all agree on that should unify us is that we need a candidate who will further strengthen an already very strong Republican ticket.

Republican Advance Straw Poll Results: Cuccinelli Wins

According to Hampton Roads GOP, Ken Cuccinelli won the Republican Advance Attorney General straw poll.

***This is a HamptonRoadsGOP.com exclusive*** Cuccinelli wins the RPV Advance Strawpoll. The results are as follows: Cuccinelli, 47% Brownlee, 38% Foster, 15%.

This is now the second major grassroots victory by the Cuccinelli campaign in a week.

This was also a major victory because the deck was set against Cuccinelli in the straw poll. In the 2007 Republican Advance straw poll, Ron Paul traveled en masse to the Republican Advance to make sure Ron Paul won the poll, and they were successful.

This year John Brownlee tried to win the straw poll by bussing people in to the Advance, and paying for peoples admission to the event. In his live blog of the AG debate earlier today, Shaun Kenney estimated that John Bownlee had bussed in 200 people, and that roughly another 300 people were at the advance.

If Shaun's ballpark estimates are roughly accurate this makes Cuccinelli's victory even more impressive. Brownllee bussed in 2/5ths of the Advance attendees and received roughly 2/5ths of the vote in the straw poll. Assuming the people Brownlee bussed in voted for Brownlee, this means Brownlee had very little support among people who went to the Advance with an open mind on the race.

No matter what trying to buy a strawpoll and failing has to be an embarrasment for any campaign.

Cuccinelli had now won the two biggest tests of grassroots strength in this AG nomination contest. This bodes very well for him heading into the delegate elections starting up in January.

::UPDATE:: For final results from bloggers who were at the advance, check out Jason Kenney, and SWAC Girl.

Now There's a List of Endorsements...

Especially during primary seasons candidate's try to lock up key endorsements early on to give themselves credibility, and draw more support.

In the AG race, Ken Cuccinelli has been demonstrating that he has the support of the grassroots by touting his list of endorsements from unit chairmen, and John Brownlee has been bolstering his prosecution/law enforcement message by touting the list of sheriffs who support him.

While the nomination contest for Attorney General has been going on almost as soon as Virginia's legislative session ended, only recently have people been able to sort of talk about a "nominating contest" for lieutenant governor in Virginia. Since the end of October Patrick Muldoon an attorney from Alexandria has been campaigning to challenge Lieutenant Governor Bill Bolling in his bid to once again run as the Republican nominee for Lieutenant Governor. While Bill Bolling doesn't face much of a threat from someone whose last significant bid for elected office was a failed attempt to oust Rick Boucher as the congressman from the 9th district, Bolling's campaign decided to try to squelch this insurgency early. In an e-mail sent out this afternoon Bolling sent out his endorsement list. Bolling has the support of almost every Republican leader. The list is devastatign to the Muldoon campaign because it will be difficult for Muldoon to find significant party support.

Here is the list:

REPUBLICAN PARTY LEADERS SUPPORTING BILL BOLLING FOR LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR

State and Congressional Leaders

The Honorable Robert McDonnell, Attorney General and 2009 GOP Gubernatorial Nominee

The Honorable George Allen, Former Governor and Senator

The Honorable Jim Gilmore, Former Governor

The Honorable John Hager, Former Lieutenant Governor and Former RPV Chairman

The Honorable Jerry Kilgore, Former Attorney General and 2005 Gubernatorial Nominee

Congressman Eric Cantor, House Minority Whip, 111^th Congress

Congressman Tom Davis, III

Congresswoman Thelma Drake

Congressman Randy Forbes

Congressman Virgil Goode

Congressman Bob Goodlatte

Congressman Rob Wittman

Congressman Frank Wolf

John Brownlee, Candidate for Attorney General

Sen. Ken Cuccinelli, Candidate for Attorney General

David Foster, Candidate for Attorney General

State Senate

Senator Thomas Norment, Jr., Senate Minority Leader

Senator Steve Newman, Senate Republican Caucus Chair

Senator Ken Stolle, Republican Leader Pro Tempore

Senator Walter Stosch, Republican Leader Emeritus

Senator Ken Cuccinelli

Senator Emmett Hanger

Senator Robert Hurt

Senator Steve Martin

Senator Ryan McDougle

Senator Mark Obenshain

Senator Fred Quayle

Senator Frank Ruff

Senator Ralph Smith

Senator Richard Stuart

Senator Jill Holtzman Vogel

Senator Frank Wagner

Senator William Wampler

Senator John Watkins

House of Delegates

Speaker William Howell

Majority Leader Morgan Griffith

Delegate Kirk Cox, House Republican Whip

Delegate Sam Nixon, Jr., House Republican Caucus Chair

Delegate Dave Albo

Delegate Clay Athey

Delegate Rob Bell

Delegate Kathy Byron

Delegate Bill Carrico

Delegate Ben Cline

Delegate Mark Cole

Delegate John Cosgrove

Delegate William Fralin

Delegate Tom Gear

Delegate Todd Gilbert

Delegate Phil Hamilton

Delegate Frank Hargrove, Sr.

Delegate Clarke Hogan

Delegate Tim Hugo

Delegate Sal Iaquinto

Delegate Riley Ingram

Delegate Bill Janis

Delegate Chris Jones

Delegate Terry Kilgore

Delegate Steven Landes

Delegate Scott Lingamfelter

Delegate Matt Lohr

Delegate Manoli Loupassi

Delegate Danny Marshall

Delegate Jimmie Massie

Delegate Joe May

Delegate Don Merricks

Delegate Jackson Miller

Delegate Harvey Morgan

Delegate Dave Nutter

Delegate John O'Bannon

Delegate Glenn Oder

Delegate Bobby Orrock, Sr.

Delegate Chris Peace

Delegate Brenda Pogge

Delegate Charles Poindexter

Delegate Bob Purkey

Delegate Chris Saxman

Delegate Edward Scott

Delegate Beverly Sherwood

Delegate Terrie Suit

Delegate Robert Tata

Delegate Lee Ware

Delegate Tommy Wright

State Central Committee Members

Morton Blackwell, National Committeeman

Kathy Terry, National Committeewoman

Michael Thomas, First Vice Chairman

Polly Campbell, Secretary

Rick Neel, Treasurer

Walter Curt, Finance Chairman

Juanita Balenger, Eastern Vice Chairwoman

Kevin Gentry, Eastern Vice Chairman

Trixie Averill, Western Vice Chairwoman

James Hale, Western Vice Chairman

Tom Foley, 1st District Chairman

Gary C. Byler, 2nd District Activist

Mike Wade, 3rd District Chairman

Jack Wilson, 4th District Chairman

Tucker Watkins, 5th District Chairman

Fred Anderson, 6th District Chairman

Linwood Cobb, III, 7th District Chairman

Michael Ginsberg, 8th District Chairman

Michelle Jenkins, 9th District Chairman

James Rich, 10th District Chairman

Becky Stoeckel, 11th District Chairman

Michael Lowe, 1^st District Rep.

John Van Hoy, 1^st District Rep.

James Bowden, 1^st District Rep.

Carol Dawson, 1^st District Rep.

Allen Webb, 1^st District Rep.

David O'Kelley, 2^nd District Rep.

Chuck Smith, 2^nd District Rep.

Roger Miles, 2^nd District Rep.

Shirley Darnauer, 2^nd District Rep.

Ken Golden, 2^nd District Rep.

Bryan Meals, 3^rd District Rep.

Christopher Woodfin, 3^rd District Rep.

Cortland Putbrese, 3^rd District Rep.

William Flanagan, 4^th District Rep.

Irene Hurst, 4^th District Rep.

Linas Kojelis, 4^th District Rep.

Robert Wheeler, 4^th District Rep.

Chris Shores, 5^th District Rep.

Gene Smith, 5^th District Rep.

Rachel Shoenewald, 5^th District Rep.

Edward W. Early, 5^th District Rep.

Mickey Mixon, 6^th District Rep.

Matthew Braud, 6^th District Rep.

Lynn Mitchell, 6^th District Rep.

Wendell Walker, 6^th District Rep.

Kristi Way, 7^th District Rep.

Marie Quinn, 7^th District Rep.

Edward Fuhr, 7^th District Rep.

Brian Plum, 7^th District Rep.

David Fuller, 7^th District Rep.

Vellie Dietrich-Hall, 8^th District Rep.

Michael Giere, 8^th District Rep.

Mark Kelly, 8^th District Rep.

John Kilgore, 9^th District Rep.

Jerry Lester, 9^th District Rep.

Judi Lynch, 9^th District Rep.

Howard Lind, 10^th District Rep.

Mary Gail Swenson, 10^th District Rep.

Keith Damon, 11^th District Rep.

Patsy Drain, 11^th District Rep.

Rick Hendrix, 11^th District Rep.

Michael Rumberg, 11^th District Rep.

Lori-Ann Miller, Young Republican Federation of Virginia President

Neil Miller, Young Republican Federation of Virginia Rep.

Andrew Vehorn, Young Republican Federation of Virginia Rep.

Sam Bradshaw, College Republican Federation of Virginia Rep.

Adam Erby, College Republican Federation of Virginia Rep.

Angie Hall

Carol Ford

Ed Gillespie, Former Republican Party of Virginia and Republican National Committee Chairman

Don Huffman, Former Republican Party of Virginia Chairman

Kate Obenshain, Former Republican Party of Virginia Chairman

Gary Thomson, Former Republican Party of Virginia Chairman

Unit Chairs

Timothy Raynor, Accomack

Christian Schoenewald, Albemarle

Chris Marston, Alexandria

Loren Newman, Jr., Alleghany/Covington/Clifton Forge

Mary Alice Williams, Amelia

Stephen Witham, Amherst

Evans Thomas, Appomattox

Mark Kelly, Arlington

Bill Shirley, Augusta

Kevin Corwin, Bedford County / City

Joyce Kistner, Bristol

Elaine Cogsdale, Brunswick

Jerry Lester, Buchanan

Gene Smith, Campbell

Jeff Sili, Caroline

Carolyn Honeycutt, Carroll

Patricia Meyers, Charles City

Anthony Pascuita, Jr., Charlotte

Donald Williams, Chesterfield

Hon. John Wood, Colonial Heights

Don Bishop, Craig

John Coates, Culpeper

Susan McCammon, Dinwiddie

Carla Cash Harris, Emporia / Greensville

Blake Slusser, Essex

Jim Kaplan, Fairfax City

Jim Hyland, Fairfax County

James P. Fisher, Fauquier

Gene Bishop, Floyd

Doug Johnson, Fluvanna

Teresa Preston, Franklin City / Southampton County

Bill Stanley, Franklin County

Bob Seale, Frederick County

B.J. Huff, Fredericksburg

John Walsh, Gloucester

Ben Slone, Goochland

Dawn Cox, Grayson

Gary Lowe, Greene

Pat Barksdale, Halifax

Kyle Adams, Hampton

Angela Kelly-Wiecek, Hanover

Kerri Wilson, Harrisonburg

Mike Wade, Henrico

Don Lawson, Henry

David Kiser, Highland

Phil Justice, Hopewell

Rick Batten, James City

William Rilee, King & Queen

John Hubbard, King William

Joan Blackstone, Lancaster

Damie Carter, Lee

Robert James, Jr., Lexington / Rockbridge / Buena Vista

Pat Mullins, Louisa

Adam Erby, Lunenburg

Mark Peake, Lynchburg

John Tucker, Madison

Tony Kostelecky, Manassas

William Wren, Manassas Park

Timothy Halpin, Martinsville

Michael Lowe, Mathews

Tim Boyle, Mecklenburg

Lee Davis, Middlesex

Patty Manthe, Montgomery

Jane Ladd, New Kent

Steve Groce, Newport News

Pam Brown, Norfolk

Colin Cowling, Northampton

Jeanne Kling, Northumberland

Ronald Chipper, Nottoway

Doug Rogers, Orange

Charles Butler, Jr., Page

Elizabeth Stanley, Patrick

Linas Kojelis, Petersburg

Tom Arthur, Pittsylvania

John Anderson, Poquoson

Bryan Meals, Portsmouth

Ray Kramer, Powhatan

John Marsden, Prince Edward

Daniel Robinson, Prince George

Lyle Beefelt, Prince William

Beckie Cox, Pulaski

Mark Armentrout, Radford

Cortland Putbrese, Richmond City

Debbie Harper, Richmond County

Adam Boitnott, Roanoke City

Graham Leonard, III, Roanoke County

Michael Meredith, Rockingham

Gregory Habeeb, Salem

John Kilgore, Sr., Scott

Michael Monahan, Shenandoah

Adam Tolbert, Smyth

Bryce Reeves, Spotsylvania

Susan Stimpson, Stafford

Stephen Trent, Suffolk

Earl Hall, Surry

Aaron Roberts, Tazewell

Kenny Golden, Virginia Beach

Lisa Mauck, Warren

Patty Denton, Washington

Chris Darden, Waynesboro

Robert Fountain, Westmoreland

Richard Hill, Williamsburg

Patricia Jackson, Winchester

Ben Boggs, Wise

Aubrey O'Quinn, Wythe

Doug Meade, York

So far the top of our ticket has unified the party as we head into 2009. Hopefully it will stay that way and help us as we try to sweep all three executive offices next fall. As we work towards that end pleas sign up to be a delegate to the Republican State Convention next May 30th, and let's prove to the nation that Virginia is not some purpley blue state.