Sunday, October 18, 2009
Armstrong questions 10th District opponent
Ed Creed's nomination shows a lack of respect for the district, Ward Armstrong has said.
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roanoke.com/politics
RICHMOND -- Veteran Del. Ward Armstrong of Henry County may not be getting a free ride to another term in the House of Delegates, but the political newcomer who is trying to topple him has not brought a ton of firepower to the race.
That doesn't mean Armstrong is coasting. In fact, the House minority leader has had some choice words for the little-known Republican candidate who moved into Armstrong's district just in time to launch a long-shot campaign against him.
Ed Creed, a former Las Vegas businessman who went through bankruptcy, is waging a bare-bones bid to take down the House's top Democrat. Creed, who lives in Patrick County, reached the end of September with just $452 in his campaign account, while Armstrong was sitting on more than $180,000, according to the Virginia Public Access Project.
"I chose to run and I'm certainly going up against a giant," Creed said last week. "So I always say it's David against Goliath."
Armstrong appears to have every advantage -- money, name recognition, and the power of incumbency. He expected to have a Republican challenger, but he complains that Creed established residency in Patrick County just before the June deadline to qualify for the Republican nomination and a spot on the general election ballot.
Creed, 38, was nominated by city and county GOP chairmen in the House district after no other candidates showed interest in the race.
"That shows an utter lack of respect for the people of the district and the process," Armstrong said. "He has no more connection than he just picked this place to move to because he wanted to run for office. I'm not suggesting that someone needs to be born here and raised here like I was, but at least have some ties to the area."
The 10th House District covers parts of Martinsville, Henry County and Carroll County, and all of Patrick County.
Creed, a Florida native, was registered to vote as a Democrat in North Carolina before moving to Botetourt County last fall. He now lives in a rented home on a farm in Claudville, but said he did not move to Patrick County just to run for political office.
"I'm committed to being here," Creed said. "Regardless of how this race shapes up, I'm going to live here."
Creed said he is separated from the mother of his two children, who live in North Carolina. He works for United First Financial, which touts a software product that is supposed to help customers reduce interest on their debts.
Creed once ran a Las Vegas airline charter and leasing business that filed for bankruptcy in 2005, a failure that Creed attributed to "some wrong decisions." He lost his home in the process, he said.
Asked what the bankruptcy should tell voters about his qualifications, Creed said, "Who better would know how to deal with the common person in this economy than a person who has been through the trenches? I've both had my failures and my successes in life and I certainly understand what the hurt is today."
Armstrong raised other questions about Creed's background, including a $298 tax lien filed against him in Louisiana in 1998. Creed said he doesn't remember the lien but was sure he had paid off the back taxes.
Creed also has made YouTube videos in which he describes his experiences with a diet that involves injections of human chorionic gonadotropin, a hormone produced by the placenta during pregnancy.
"The diet videos were just showing that you could lose weight," Creed said, adding that he is no longer on the diet. "That was my personal thing."
Armstrong questioned whether Creed was adequately scrutinized by Republicans before he got the GOP nomination.
"I would have a real problem with someone with his background running as a Democrat," Armstrong said.
House Majority Leader Morgan Griffith, R-Salem, headed the GOP's candidate recruiting efforts this year, but did not recruit Creed. Griffith said he only provided advice to local party officials about the steps needed to get a candidate on the ballot.
"In all fairness to Mr. Creed, sometimes ambitious young men who want to accomplish things in life make mistakes, and clearly with a bankruptcy he's made some business mistakes," Griffith said. "But there are a lot of folks in the Martinsville-Henry-Patrick-Carroll area who in the last number of years have taken risks on some businesses because they got laid off or whatever and ultimately had to file for bankruptcy."
Creed has received little support from the party. His largest contributions have been in-kind donations from the Henry County Republican Committee for items such as yard signs and buttons.
"I had no expectations whatsoever as far as party support," Creed said.
Despite being a newcomer, he has argued that Armstrong has lost touch with voters in a largely conservative district. Creed has criticized Armstrong for accepting contributions from Appalachian Power, which has increased utility rates on customers in the region. Creed said he would push to ban lawmakers from taking campaign money from utilities, which flow generously to both political parties.
Armstrong has accepted less than $9,000 from Appalachian since 1996 and has opposed rate increases sought by the company over the past three years. Armstrong said recent mail pieces and phone calls to constituents to oppose the rate increases cost him more than all of the contributions he has received from Appalachian.
"Where is there anything I have done other than oppose these rate increases? And the answer is there isn't," Armstrong said.
Without money for a media campaign, Creed said he is waging a shoe-leather effort to get his message to voters.
"It's definitely tough when you don't have a lot of money, but there's definitely a will in my heart to do the best I can, and if that takes knocking on every door and calling every phone number, I'll do it," Creed said.
Armstrong said he won't be resting on his money advantage.
"We'll be doing some paid communication in the next several weeks," Armstrong said. " And I've actually been out going to door to door."
