Because it ain’t replacing one Republican with another. Richmond Times-Dispatch:
Republicans around the state are being asked to choose between change and continuity in a contest for the chairmanship of the Republican Party of Virginia.
GOP leaders say former Lt. Gov. John H. Hager — who has been chairman since July and wants to serve a full four-year term — appears to have the lead over Del. Jeffrey M. Frederick of Prince William County.
[…]
Frederick, 32, a lawmaker since 2004, said the party needs new leadership because it has lost five seats in the House of Delegates and four in the Virginia Senate while Hager has been chairman. He also said Hager has lagged in raising money for the party.
[…]
Hager said Frederick doesn’t mention some of the gains the GOP has made under his watch, including the special election victory of Rep. Robert J. Wittman, R-1st. As for fundraising, Hager said the state party’s revenues doubled last year to $2 million.
Definition of “gain” according to Merriam-Webster:
1: resources or advantage acquired or increased : profit
So, how exactly is replacing the late Jo Ann Davis (Republican) with Wittman (Republican) a gain? Using this logic he gained 53 seats (the current number) in the House of Delegates and 19 seats (again, the current number) in the Senate of Virginia.
Oh, and then there’s the hypocrisy. Continued from RT-D:
“He’s just questioned my integrity; he’s just a kid,” Hager said of Frederick.
Jason Gray of Colonial Heights, chairman of the 4th District GOP committee, said Hager “will carry the convention. He is running strong.”
He also criticized Frederick for running a negative campaign against Hager.
Really? Who went negative? Did Hager falsely accuse Frederick of suing the RPV?:
Hager then mentioned that Frederick got into a legal tussle with the party in 2004 over of a contract his company, GXS Strategies, had with the Virginia GOP for software.
“What can Jeff Frederick do?” Hager asked. “He has never been to a meeting or done anything for the party except sue it.”
Frederick, chief executive officer of GXS strategies, said neither he nor his company ever sued the state party. He said there was a issue related to a contract for software, but the matter was quickly resolved.
“We had a disagreement with the party but we settled it,” Frederick said.
Besides, isn’t Hager running his Chairman reelection campaign out of an office owned by a company that has gotten millions in dollars in no bid contracts?
A couple of points I’d like to add:
I wonder if the RT-D interviewed anyone else about the state of this race but those who have already publicly endorsed Hager? If they had spoken to any of the scores of “GOP leaders” who have endorsed Frederick (including, I think, a majority of the GOP House of Delegates caucus, among many, many unit chairs and other officials) they might have gotten a different story. Frederick is clearly winning, and though it might eventually be close, will probably prevail at the convention if for no other reason than that the grassroots activists whose votes really matter are the type who populate the convention, and they love Frederick’s bottom-up approach in contrast to Hager’s “all is well” top-down approach.
Second, it does appear that Hager has a warped view of what constitutes an accomplishment worthy of praise. Just like keeping the 1st district seat was no accomplishment, so too is the loss of Rob Witmann’s old HoD seat no victory. However, one of Hager’s recent letters actually brags about the meager support RPV gave to the 99th district candidate who got walloped by a Democrat (in a district that usually votes GOP by a wide margin). In that district the state Dem party poured in 4 times as much money as RPV, and mobilized dozens and dozens of volunteers from around the state. Hager did squat, other than, as his letter bragged, calling GOP leaders to rally them behind the candidate. Lame. Really, really lame. And to then try to defend this record by impugning Frederick (a Republican who has actually been elected recently, and from an unfriendly distric) as a kid or by saying he’s done nothing for the party?!? Please. We need to send Hager to the retirement home.
On the 99th HOD race:
Where the heck did they find Lee Anne Washington?
Is she so totally ignorant (or a liar) that the best should come up with was that she was going to end in-state tuition and driver’s licenses for illegal aliens? THEY RECEIVE NEITHER.
I just heard a couple weeks ago that said she was going to cap reassessments. Not sure how she planned on doing that without violating the Constitution of Virginia, which requires that property be assessed at fair market value (Article X, Section 2).