Saturday, October 31, 2009
Democrat Jeffrey endorses GOP's Bird in House race
General Assembly 2011
Among the major issues: The state's continuing efforts to provide services with fewer dollars and Gov. McDonnell's plan to privatize liquor stores. Session ends Feb. 26.
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In what is unlikely to be a surprise to anyone who has followed the race for the 11th District House of Delegates seat, Democrat Martin Jeffrey on Friday endorsed Republican Troy Bird for election Tuesday.
Del. Onzlee Ware, D-Roanoke, easily defeated Jeffrey in a spring primary that was notable for its lack of discussion of issues and its focus on allegations by the Jeffrey campaign that Ware violated election laws.
Jeffrey said in a news release Friday that the "extraordinary challenges" facing the country led him to believe Bird "has the capacity to represent myself and the citizens of the 11th district in the finest spirit of the first and founding citizen legislators."
He described those founders as "everyday people who wanted and created a government of, by and for themselves -- they wanted to avoid a government run by and on behalf of an 'elite few.' "
"Troy and I are certain we don't agree on every issue and how best to resolve them," Jeffrey said. "However, we are committed to working together to form a new discourse and a new politic."
Jeffrey and his campaign manager, Mark Powell, formally challenged Ware on his campaign petition signatures and financial contributions to and from his campaign.
Roanoke Commonwealth's Attorney Donald Caldwell, an acknowledged Ware supporter, concluded the petition signatures were valid, and the board of elections decided Ware had complied with state law regarding his financial filings.
-- Cody Lowe
Anne Holton stumps for Gwen Mason
Anne Holton, the daughter of former Virginia governor Linwood Holton and wife of current Gov. Tim Kaine, visited Roanoke on Friday to visit her old school and campaign for Democratic House candidate Gwen Mason.
Mason is running against Republican Bill Cleaveland for an open seat in the 17th House district, which includes portions of Roanoke, Roanoke County and Botetourt County.
Mason and Holton visited Crystal Spring Elementary School, which Holton attended as a child, and read "My Day in the Garden" to three kindergarten classes.
Holton said that education will be at the forefront of budget decisions in Richmond the next couple of years. She cited a proposal by GOP gubernatorial candidate Bob McDonnell to use general fund money for transportation and said education funding must be protected.
"We don't want to balance a budget on the backs of K-12 kids," Holton said. "We don't want to do it on the backs of families who aspire to and work hard to help their young people go on to higher education."
Mason said she'd work to preserve funding for public schools. She also pledged to try to overturn Virginia's "King's Dominion Law" that requires schools to begin classes after Labor Day unless they can prove a weather-related hardship, saying that she would push to allow school districts to set their own start dates.
Cleaveland, meanwhile, spent the afternoon in Vinton handing out candy and campaigning during a town "trick-or-treat" event.
"Personally I feel like education is foundational to most of the other issues facing the commonwealth today, including economic development and jobs," Cleaveland said in a response to the Mason event.
-- Mason Adams
Rees switches tickets in congressional contest
The pool of candidates aiming to represent the Republican Party in next year's race against Rep. Tom Perriello dwindled Thursday.
Bradley Rees of Bedford County announced he will run as a member of the Virginia Conservative Party. He had announced his bid for the Republican ticket in July.
Rees, an assembly line worker, cited discontent with the way the 5th District Republican Party operates as his reason for the switch.
"Suffice to say, there are people in this party whose sole concern is political power, all at the expense of core principles," he said.
His announcement comes just weeks after state Sen. Robert Hurt, R-Chatham, announced his intent to run for the GOP nomination in the 5th District.
Albemarle County Supervisor Kenneth Boyd, Fluvanna County biology teacher Feda Kidd Morton, pilot Mike McPadden and businessman Laurence Verga are also running for the GOP nomination.
-- Janelle Rucker
