NBC12 Reports Lt. Gov Race Called for Democrat

State Senator Ralph Northam has been called the winner in the Lt. Governor's race.  This sets up a special election to replace Northam which will determine control of the State Senate.

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.

Democrat Lt. Governor Candidates Try to Out Gun Control Each Other

The New Republic reported yesterday that the two Democratic candidates for Lt. Governor in Virginia, State Senator Ralph Northam and former Kaine Secretary of Technology and Obama administration official Aneesh Chopra, are trying to out gun control each other.

Both Northam and Chopra say they support universal background checks, along with bans on assault weapons and high-capacity ammunition magazines. But such is the perceived demand for gun control among Virginia Democrats that they are now battling on territory even beyond that trinity of measures. Chopra has gone on the offensive, arguing that Northam has been too accommodating of the gun lobby in the past, noting that he had a B rating from the NRA as recently as 2008 and that he sided with the organization in voting for legislation that would require municipalities that hold gun buyback initiatives to sell the guns back to the public, instead of melting them down, and for legislation barring municipalities from fingerprinting concealed-carry applicants. A recent mailing from the Chopra campaign attacked Northam for voting in 2012 to shield from prosecution homeowners who kill nonthreatening intruders: “Laws like these have been used to justify the death of teenager Trayvon Martin, who was shot and killed while walking home,” the mailer declares. The mailer blurs the distinction between the castle doctrine that lies at the heart of the legislation Northam backed, and "stand your ground" laws like the one at issue in the Florida killing of Martin, but the Chopra campaign argues that the principle at stake is the same: giving too much leeway to gun owners to use deadly force when it is not absolutely necessary, without fear of legal repercussion.

The New Republic views this as the changing politics of gun control - the fact that Democratic candidates are talking gun control in the state that is home to the NRA, as if this is the first time a Democrat in Virginia has run on gun control.  In 2001, then Delegate Don McEachin ran on the issue of gun control.  In 2010, Representative Gerry Connolly, running for re-election, rolled out gun control at the end of his campaign.  And, as noted by the New Republic, in 2009, then former Delegate Brian Moran (D-Alexandria) went after State Senator Creigh Deeds for being too pro-gun when they were running for the Democratic nomination for Governor.

Chopra and the New Republic are trying to make Northam sound firearm friendly simply because of one vote that he cast.  The fact is neither of these will be good for supporters of the Second Amendment so we need to get behind E.W. Jackson and make sure he has the funding necessary to define himself before his opponents get the chance to define him.

Meet the Democrat Candidates for Statewide Office in 2013

Virginia Republicans nominated their candidates for Governor, Lt. Governor, and Attorney General at this past weekend's state convention.  Two of the three (Ken Cuccinelli for Governor and Mark Obenshain for Attorney General) have solid voting records supporting the rights of Virginia gun owners.  The third, Rev. E.W. Jackson, who is running for Lt. Governor, received an "AQ" rating from the NRA prior to the convention and there is no reason to believe he will not stand by his commitment to Liberty.  So let's take a look at the Democrats who will be nominated by primary on June 11, 2013.

Terry McAuliffe, candidate for Governor, is unopposed and the June primary is a mere formality.  He is on record as wanting to reinstate the recently repealed handgun rationing law, banning modern sporting rifles, but tried the typical anti-rights trick of trying to show his pro-rights bona fides by purchasing a very expensive shotgun at Dick's Sporting Goods earlier this year.

The Lt. Governor Candidates are Aneesh Chopra - Former U.S. Chief Technology Officer under President Obama.  Chopra is very out front with what he wants to do to the rights of Virginia's gun owners if he is elected:

• Universal background checks. Closing the gun show loophole and keeping weapons out of the hands of dangerous people.
• Banning assault weapons and high capacity magazines. This will help keep military-style weapons off our streets.

The other candidate for Lt. Governor is State Senator Ralph Northam.  Northam earned a "D" rating from the NRA the last time he ran for re-election.  During his time in the Senate he has opposed repealing handgun rationing, and repealing the restaurant ban.

For Attorney General, we have Sen. Mark R. Herring, and Justin Fairfax a former Assistant United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia.  Fairfax was kind enough to provide a You Tube video of him talking about is gun ban agenda.

Here's a newsflash Mr. Fairfax, none of the things you mentioned in that video would have stopped the shootings you listed.

Then there is Senator Mark Herring.  He received a "D" rating from the NRA in 2011.  Besides voting against repealing handgun rationing and repeal of the restaurant ban, he also voted against keeping personal information of Concealed Handgun Permit holders private.

So, it is very clear which candidates for statewide office this year support your right to keep and bear arms, and it is not the Democrat candidates.