Obenshain's Momentum Continues to Build in AG Race

State Senator Mark Obenshain's campaign continues to build momentum in the first month after her found out who his Democratic opponent would be.  The Washington Post recently reported that Obenshain raised $480,000 in June, beating the record previously set by Cuccinelli in 2009 of nearly $292,000, and far outraising his competitor.  Democrat Mark Herring, a state senator from Loudoun who won a primary against former Assistant U.S. Attorney Justin Fairfax last month, reported raising $206,000.  Obenshain has approximately $300,000 more in his bank account than Herring.

Mark Obenshain for AG

Obenshain is the clear choice for gun owners in the AGs race.  Herring, like his Democratic ticketmates, is running hard on enacting gun control laws.  Senator Obenshain has been a true friend of gun owners throughout his career in the State Senate.

Please contact the Obenshain campaign to see how you can help him win in November.  Your rights depend on it.

Mark Herring Attacks Obenshain for Supporting 2nd Amendment

State Senator and Democratic Nominee for Attorney General Mark Herring is attacking State Senator and GOP AG Nominee Mark Obenshain for his support of the 2nd Amendment:



Yesterday, responding to the Supreme Court's decision in the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) case, a press release issued by the Herring campaign said:

As Attorney General, I will protect the civil rights of all Virginians and use the powers of the office to promote equality while we work to change Virginia’s current law which prohibits same-sex marriage.

While Herring was referring to Virginia's marriage amendment, it does beg the question, since he opposes most of Virginia's pro- 2nd Amendment laws just as he opposes Virginia's marriage amendment, does that mean he will use the "powers of the office" to violate these laws until he can change them too?

Hat tip to Bearing Drift.

Herring Attacks Obenshain for Pro-2nd Amendment Votes in First AG Debate

At their first debate since Senator Mark Herring won Tuesday's Democratic Primary,  Herring wasted no time in throwing out the ususal talking points of extremist to attack State Senator Mark Obenshain.  The Richmond Times Dispatch reports:

“On a lot of issues, the two of us could not be further apart,” Herring said, attacking his opponent’s past proposal to require women to report miscarriages to police. “Mark Obenshain stands for the prism of radical extremism.”


Herring said in recent weeks, "a lot could be heard about the fiery rhetoric” by E.W. Jackson, the Republican nominee for lieutenant governor, “But in the state Senate, Obenshain has put this ideology to work.”

Obenshain, taken aback by the attack resisted responding in kind:

“I want to make sure we have safe communities, that Virginia continues to be a job creation engine and one of the best places in the country for businesses to strive,” Obenshain said.


“I will fight to make sure that we fight gang violence in communities and schools, and fight human trafficking, which is the fastest growing criminal enterprise in the world,” he said.

Gun control was also discussed in the debate:

Herring called out Obenshain for his opposition to tougher gun control legislation. “We need to do what we can to reduce gun violence in Virginia. We got to get serious about it, the time for action is now,” Herring said, pushing for tougher background checks and the closing of the gun show loophole.


Obenshain countered that imposing further restrictions on law abiding citizens in Virginia is not the solution. “I wouldn’t be able to give my hunting rifle to my son without a background check,” he said.

There is a clear choice for gun owners in all three of this year's state wide races.

Virginia Primary Post Mortem

Some thoughts on yesterday's Democrat and Republican Primary.  Two longtime GOP Delegates, Beverly Sherwood, and Joe May, lost.  Some may call them upsets but when you dig a little deeper in to the numbers, there were several problems each of them faced and neither seemed to completely respond.

Let's start with Sherwood, who lost by 78 votes.  This is the first election in which she has run after redistricting.  She acquired new parts in Warren County and she lost those by a total of 94 votes.  Clearly, she should have done more to introduce herself to these new voters.  Bev was a good friend to Virginia's gun owners, chairing the Militia, Police, and Public Safety Committee for a number of years.  Her opponent, Mark Berg has indicated he opposes infringements on our 2nd Amendment Rights.  This should be a wash in terms of our support in  the General Assembly.

Joe May too had new territory in his district as a result of redistricting and he too lost those precincts (in Frederick County) badly.  Delegate May was considered more or a moderate than Delegate Sherwood.  The insurgent nature of their opposition was helped by the fact they both voted for the tax increases in the new transportation bill this last session.  Some will likely say it resulted in their defeat, but three other incumbents who were challenged and won, also voted for the transportation bill, so it it played a roll in May and Sherwood's defeat, it was likely just one of several factors.  May was so so on our issue earning a "C" rating from the NRA in the 2011.  IT is interesting to note that of the two incumbents that lost, Joe may received the second largest number of votes of the incumbents (2200), but lost by the largest margin (15 points).

Both Delegate Todd Gilbert and Bobby Orrock won, Gilbert with 92% of the vote and received the largest number of votes of any of the incumbents (3655).  He also voted against the transportation plan.   Orrock defeated Dustin Price by 13% and received 1366 votes.  Speaker of the House Bill Howell was also challenged but like Gilbert, handily defeated his opponent with 92% of the vote.  Both Orrock and Howell voted for the transportation bill.

The take away from these incumbents is to never be complacent.  Elected officials aways have to be doing outreach for new supporters and new blood in their organizations.  Gilbert clearly did that based on the high number of votes he received.  Orrock may want to make sure he is doing that outreach.  While he won handily, he got half the votes of about a two thirds fewer votes than Gilbert.

As for the Democrats, they had two state wide offices up for primary voters yesterday.  They decided to go with known candidates - State Senator Ralph Northam for Lt. Governor and State Senator Mark Herring for AG.  Northam beat back an Indian-American, Aneesh Chopra, who ran on a strong platform of gun control.  While Northam is no friend to gun owners (he has a "D" rating from the NRA), he was fending off charges of being a shill for the NRA.  When a candidate tells you that his "D" rated opponent is a shill for the NRA, you get the idea just how anti-rights the guy making the charge is.

In the AG's race, State Senator Mark Herring (also an NRA "D" rated candidate) soundly defeated former Assistant U.S. Attorney Justin Fairfax.  In choosing the known quantities,  state Democrats opted not to go with the "diverse" ticket many thought they would choose, and chose three white males for statewide office.  Not that that should make a difference but since Democrats are always pointing out how the GOP has no diversity on their national and Virginia statewide tickets, the irony is not lost on this writer.

Virginia gun owners have a clear choice this election.  Do we go with the candidates that have a solid record of supporting our rights (Ken Cuccinelli and Mark Obenshain) and their ticket mate who expresses strong support for our rights (E.W. Jackson) or do we opt for three candidates that for the first time in a number of years do not shy away from telling us just how they want to restrict our rights (McAuliffe, Northam, and Herring).

Now let's get to work and help the guys who stand with us.

Primary Day in Virginia

Today is Primary Day in Virginia.  Gun owners in the 15th House District should vote for Delegate Todd Gilbert.  In the 54th House District gun owners should vote for Delegate Bobby Orrock.

Democrats running for state wide office are also holding a primary today.  If you live in a district that has both a Republican and a Democrat primary, you can only vote in one.

On a related note, over at Bearing Drift, John Fredericks offers some interesting points on the Lt. Governor's race and the primary between Obama's former technology czar, Aneesh Chopra, and Democrat State Senator Ralph Northam.  Chopra has been running hot and heavy on gun control.  This from today's Virginian Pilot:

In political mail and online, Chopra has highlighted instances when Northam voted for measures he said weaken local gun buyback programs and water down concealed-handgun permit standards, among others.

And this from today's Richmond Times Dispatch:

With few visible ideological differences between the candidates, Chopra recently cranked up the heat by going negative, depicting Northam as a shill for the National Rifle Association.

Last year, Northam had voted with the Republican-friendly gun-rights group on legislation to shield from prosecution property owners who shoot and kill nonthreatening intruders.

But last week, Northam underscored his support for legislation that would close the gun show loophole, keep the one-gun per-month limit, and keep guns out of bars. “I received a ‘D’ rating from the NRA by standing up to the gun lobby,” he said.

Regarding Frederick's post over at Bearing Drift, the below tidbit from the RTD article mentions something that Frederick mentions - if Northam is elected Lt. Governor in November, he could be responsible for keeping the Senate in GOP hands because his seat would then be open and it is a swing district that Governor Bob McDonnell won by 57 percent in 2009.

Northam — and his Senate-colleague Herring — also may be stonewalled by several Democrats fearing that their Senate seats might fall into Republican hands if they are nominated and win the election. It is possible that this concern will bring several votes for Chopra and Fairfax.

No matter who wins, gun owners will have a clear choice in all three state wide races this year, and it won't be the Democrat candidates.