March 2012
32 posts
It's official, Kaine is the Democratic U.S. Senate...
BY WESLEY P. HESTER
Former Gov. Timothy M. Kaine is the Democratic nominee for the state’s U.S. Senate race.
The Democratic Party of Virginia on Friday informed the Virginia State Board of Elections that Kaine has been certified as the nominee for the Nov. 6 election.
“Virginians could not ask for a better leader to represent them in the U.S. Senate, and Democrats could not ask for a better...
Sen. Chap Petersen mulling gubernatorial bid
BY WESLEY P. HESTER
Could you soon be seeing “Chap Petersen for Governor” stickers?
Maybe.
Sen. J. Chapman “Chap” Petersen, D-Fairfax City, said Friday he is giving some serious thought to seeking the state’s top post.
“I’ve talked to some people,” he said. “It’s an open contest at this point, which makes it a little bit unique in that for the first time in several years there are no Democrats...
Allen bashes new EPA proposal
BY WESLEY P. HESTER
Republican U.S. Senate candidate George Allen is taking aim at newly proposed regulations from the Environmental Protection Agency that would all but bar future coal-fired power plants.
The regulations, released earlier this week by the Obama administration, would limit carbon dioxide emissions from new power plants.
The emissions standards would apply to all new plants, but...
Just ahead of deadline, Jackson submits petitions,...
BY WESLEY P. HESTER Thursday’s filing deadline to qualify for Virginia’s U.S. Senate race added some drama to what could be a four-way race for the Republican nomination.
With former Gov. George Allen, Chesterfield County tea party activist Jamie Radtke, and state Del. Robert G. Marshall, R-Prince William, all but guaranteed spots on the June 12 ballot having submitted more than 15,000 signatures...
UPDATED: Webb votes against repealing oil...
BY WESLEY P. HESTER
Undercutting Democrats’ week of attacks on U.S. Sen. Candidate George Allen, Sen. Jim Webb, D-Va., today voted against legislation that would have stripped $24 billion in tax subsidies from the country’s five largest oil companies.
Shortly after President Barack Obama urged Congress to roll back the tax breaks, the Senate shot down the plan on a 51-47 vote, mostly along...
Marshall likely to qualify for U.S. Senate primary...
BY WESLEY P. HESTER
It looks like Del. Robert G. Marshall, R-Prince William, will be joining former Gov. George Allen and tea party activist Jamie Radtke on the ballot for the state’s Republican U.S. Senate primary, set for June 12.
Marshall today delivered more than 17,100 signatures to the state’s Board of Elections. That all but guarantees him a spot, as candidates who submit more than...
Cuccinelli to Comment on Health Case
BY JIM NOLAN
The U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments this week in the legal challenges to President Barack Obama’s health care plan.
Virginia Attorney Ken Cuccinelli, who was among the first to challenge the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act is not a direct participant in the litigation, given the fact that the Supreme Court has delayed consideration of Virginia’s challenge until...
Health care debate ripples through Senate race on...
BY WESLEY P. HESTER Two years after President Barack Obama signed his landmark health care overhaul into law, the issue is as polarizing today as it was then with the debate rippling through Virginia’s U.S. Senate race Friday.
Despite its many detractors, and with the U.S. Supreme Court preparing to determine its legality, President Barack Obama made it clear this week that he’ll be campaigning on...
As calls for intervention grow louder, Webb seeks...
BY WESLEY P. HESTER As violence and calls for intervention in Syria escalate, U.S. Sen. Jim Webb, D-Va., has introduced a bill that would require President Barack Obama to issue a report to Congress on all know opposition groups. The legislation, co-sponsored by Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., would also require an assessment on the size and security of conventional and non-conventional weapons...
McDonnell heads to West Coast for RGA, state...
BY OLYMPIA MEOLA
Gov. Bob McDonnell is heading out of state this weekend through mid next week for a mix of state and Republican Governors Association business.
He travels to Las Vegas and Utah for RGA meetings this weekend before heading to Washington on Monday for state economic development business and RGA events, according to his spokesman, Tucker Martin.
McDonnell serves as chairman of the...
Obama leads rivals in Va.; gender gap an issue for...
BY WESLEY P. HESTER
President Barack Obama enjoys a healthy advantage over all Republican presidential candidates in Virginia, a new poll shows, with his eight-point lead over front-runner and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney the largest to date.
The possibility of selecting Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell as a running mate wasn’t enough to close the gap for Romney, with...
Updated: Allen targets Obama, Kaine with new gas...
BY WESLEY P. HESTER Gas prices made their official entry into Virginia’s U.S. Senate race today with the launch of Republican George Allen’s toomuchatthepump.com.
The website allows visitors to enter the make and model of their vehicle and computes the cost of filling up at the pumps when President Barack Obama took office and compares it to the current cost.
Spoiler alert: It’s a lot more...
Dates set for GOP U.S. Senate primary debates
BY WESLEY P. HESTER
The Republican Party of Virginia has set dates for three upcoming debates ahead of Virginia’s June 12 Republican U.S. Senate primary.
Former Gov. George Allen, Del. Robert G. Marshall, R-Prince William, Chesterfield tea party activist Jamie Radtke, Chesapeake minister E.W. Jackson and Hampton Roads attorney David McCormick are all vying for the nomination.
The first...
Rand Paul urges McDonnell to sign detention bill
BY WESLEY P. HESTER
U.S. Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., is urging Gov. Bob McDonnell to sign legislation that would prevent Virginia state agencies and employees — including members of the Virginia National Guard and state police — from aiding in the military detention of U.S. citizens without trial.
House Bill 1160, championed by Del. Robert G. Marshall, R-Prince William, seeks to exempt the...
Groups urge McDonnell to veto voting bills
BY OLYMPIA MEOLA Members of Virginia Mew Majority and other groups delivered petitions signed online by more than 6,000 people to Gov. Bob McDonnell’s office today urging him to veto two voting-related bills.
They ask him to reject Senate Bill 1, which would require voters who do not present identification at the polls on Election Day to cast provisional ballots, and House Bill 63, which would...
UPDATED: Women's rights at focus in flurry of...
BY WESLEY P. HESTER
Seizing on the national uproar over women’s rights, Democrats are throwing everything they can at state Republicans and hoping some of it sticks.
Today, the Democratic Party of Virginia launched a video attacking Gov. Bob McDonnell for his support of a bill that will require ultrasounds of all women seeking abortions.
“From railing against contraception in his thesis, to...
Justice Department OKs Va. redistricting plan
BY WESLEY P. HESTER
The U.S. Department of Justice has signed off on Virginia’s congressional redistricting plan passed just weeks ago by the General Assembly.
The approval means that primary elections in the state can move forward as scheduled. The legislature this year passed a law that would have delayed primaries had the plan not been cleared by April 3.
The plan to reshape the state’s...
Kaine gets his own Super PAC
BY WESLEY P. HESTER
Now they’ve each got one.
The day after it was reported that a Super PAC had been launched to support Republican U.S. Senate candidate George Allen, Democratic rival Timothy M. Kaine got one of his own.
Virginia Democratic strategists Steve Bouchard and Mark Longabaugh filed paperwork Tuesday with the Federal Elections Commission to form The New Virginia PAC to aid...
Richmond native speaks against Va. voting laws to...
Kemba Smith, pictured at Danbury Federal Correctional prison in Connecticut in 1998, was sentenced to 24 years in prison after pleading guilty to being part of a crack cocaine drug conspiracy while attending Hampton University. Her sentence was later commuted by President Bill Clinton.
BY WESLEY P. HESTER Richmond native Kemba Smith Pradia today spoke out against Virginia voting laws before...
Boeing, energy companies help Allen; lawyers aid...
BY WESLEY P. HESTER As Virginia’s U.S. Senate race heats up, a glance at the top donors for the top candidates tells an interesting story.
Remember all those attacks that Republican front-runner George Allen leveled on Democratic rival Timothy M. Kaine relating to National Labor Relations Board suit against Boeing? Well, they’re paying off.
Boeing is now among Allen’s top donors, having...
Kaine pitches "No Secret Money" agreement to Allen
BY WESLEY P. HESTER
The day after it was reported that a Super PAC had been launched to aid the U.S. Senate campaign of Republican George Allen, Democratic rival Timothy M. Kaine asked Allen to agree to a “No Secret Money” agreement.
The two former governors are locked in a high-stakes, high-profile battle for the seat being vacated by U.S. Sen. Jim Webb, D-Va., who defeated then-Sen. Allen in...
Super PAC launched to aid Allen
BY WESLEY P. HESTER Virginia’s U.S. Senate race just got more interesting with the announcement of a Super PAC for Republican candidate George Allen.
Former Republican Governors Association political director Paul Bennecke has filed paperwork with the Federal Election Commission to create Independence Virginia PAC.
Bennecke said Monday that he will plans to raise between $2 and $3 million to aid...
Allen and Radtke fight for top billing on ballot
BY WESLEY P. HESTER The first fight in the Republican U.S. Senate primary — to appear atop the ballot — came to a draw Monday with tea party candidate Jamie Radtke and former Gov. George Allen simultaneously submitting petitions.
Under state law, the first candidate to submit the required 10,000 valid signatures is featured first on the primary ballot. But when the filing period...
McDonnell, O'Malley debate 2012, economy
BY OLYMPIA MEOLA Gov. Bob McDonnell, chairman of the Republican Governors Association, squared off with his Democratic counterpart, Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley, this morning over the 2012 election and state of the economy. Appearing on NBC’s Meet the Press, both men agreed jobs and the economy would be top issues for voters going into November’s presidential election.
(Watch the video...
Delegates honored by "Sensitivity Caucus"
BY WESLEY P. HESTER The House of Delegates’ Sensitivity Caucus on Friday presented its annual awards to members, with Del. Joseph D. Morrissey, D-Henrico, earning the coveted “Pop-up Award” for speaking often, and at length, on other members’ legislation.
“We have some great folks in this chamber who really want to get up and tell us a lot about what they know,” said caucus co-chairman Del. Terry...
Oil, gas prices at issue in U.S. Senate race
BY WESLEY P. HESTER
Republicans and Democrats traded barbs Thursday regarding the respective stances of U.S. Senate candidates Timothy M. Kaine and George Allen on oil and gas process.
The Democratic Party of Virginia launched a web video blasting Allen for his “continued support for spending billions in taxpayer money on subsidies for oil and gas companies that are reaping record profits during...
McDonnell to greet Obama at Richmond airport
BY OLYMPIA MEOLA Gov. Bob McDonnell will greet President Barack Obama on the tarmac in Richmond on Friday and attend the president’s event in Prince George County. Obama will deliver remarks on the economy at Rolls-Royce Crosspointe, a high-tech aircraft engine components plant. “The governor looks forward to welcoming the president to Virginia,” said McDonnell spokesman...
Business groups press for on-time budget
BY OLYMPIA MEOLA A collection of business groups are the latest to put pressure on state lawmakers to pass a budget bill — on time. Without a budget, Virginia’s sterling bond rating and “the prestige and reputation as the best state for business” could be threatened, the groups wrote in a letter dated March 5 to Virginia senators. Among the signatories are the Virginia...
Poll shows Kaine with lead over Allen, Romney in...
BY WESLEY P. HESTER
A new NBC News/Marist poll shows Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Timothy M. Kaine with a 9-point lead over Republican rival George Allen and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney with a commanding lead over Texas Rep. Ron Paul heading into Tuesday’s Republican presidential primary.
Among likely Virginia primary voters, Romney leads Paul 69 percent to 26 percent.
They are the...
Cantor endorses Romney
BY OLYMPIA MEOLA
House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-7th, endorsed Mitt Romney this morning, just two days ahead of the Super Tuesday Republican presidential primaries.
Virginia and Ohio are among 10 states that will vote in primaries and caucuses on Tuesday. In Virginia, only Romney and U.S. Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, has qualified for the ballot.
Romney has also picked up backing here from Gov....
Cantor fundraiser draws 1,800 in election year
BY OLYMPIA MEOLA Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Florida, headlined House Majority Leader Eric Cantor’s annual breakfast fundraiser in Richmond Friday morning, an event that drew about 1,800 people in an election year.
Among those gathered around tables in the ballroom of the Greater Richmond Convention Center were former Gov. George Allen, Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling, Rep. Robert Hurt, R-5th and scores...
Former Rep. Tom Davis backs Romney
BY OLYMPIA MEOLA
Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney has picked up the support of former U.S. Rep. Tom Davis, who served in Congress 1995 to 2008.
“Mitt Romney is a leader who has proved numerous times that he can be counted on to turn troubled organizations around, whether it was in business, the Winter Olympics, or as governor of Massachusetts,” Davis said in a news release. “That is...