Posted on 05/31/2006 6:13:38 AM PDT by chambley1
Steve Chapman won't be running for the 50th District Republican nomination after all, as he missed the filing deadline.
Steve Chapman is out. The 28-year-old missed the deadline to file as a candidate for the Republican nomination to the 50th District special election.
Chapman is suing the operator of an Internet blog, or web journal, for defamation and his camp blamed the pending lawsuit for throwing them off course and missing the filing deadline.
The last day to file as a GOP candidate was May 26.
The 50th District Republican Committee placed a public call May 19 in the Manassas Journal Messenger with filing details that included an official notification and a $1,000 filing fee.
Despite the announcement, Chapman said he was oblivious about the file deadline. Nor did he receive any other notification from the committee about specific filing details, he said.
"I had no idea there was a deadline," Chapman said. "We had a fundraiser the night before and it never came up. No one in my campaign knew there was a deadline."
During the 2005 50th District Republican primary, Chapman ran a tight race against Del. Harry J. Parrish, who held the House seat until his death in March.
Anthony Kostelecky, the Manassas City Republican Committee chairman, said he expected Chapman to file on time since the young Republican gained an estimated 45 percent of the GOP vote during last year's nomination race.
"I was surprised," Kostelecky said. "I expected the check to come in."
Chapman said that he's concerned about letting his supporters down.
"I'm just disappointed for all those that put their energy into my candidacy," he said.
Chapman's spokesman, Faisal Gill, said Chapman missed the deadline because he was distracted by the ongoing defamation lawsuit against an Internet blogger.
"I think he was kind of caught up with that and it was just something that he missed," Gill said.
Chapman is suing a blogger who goes by the name Black Velvet Bruce Lee and follows Manassas politics.
On several postings, the blogger and his Web site contributors ridiculed Chapman, called him derogatory names and attacked his credibility.
"It was basically attack Steve, attack Steve, attack Steve," Gill said. "It was a constant thing. They're really damaging his reputation."
Black Velvet Bruce Lee also accused Chapman of being a high school dropout.
Gill said Chapman is a 1995 graduate of Woodbridge High School.
"I've got his transcripts and his high school diploma," Gill said. "He graduated with an advanced degree."
In another posting, the blogger alleged Chapman lied about his pressure washing business having two contracts with Arlington National Cemetery.
"The one thing that really sent me over the top was being accused of spitting on the grave or stomping over the grave of our fallen soldiers," Chapman said. "That really bothered me. I just felt that was way below the belt."
Chapman maintained that his business has held a five-year contract to clean the cemetery's headstones, and another contract to maintain President John F. Kennedy's grave and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.
"I just have the utmost respect for soldiers and I have family that's buried in Arlington," he said.
The blog site "is just malicious and it's a blatant disregard for the troops."
Gill's law firm e-mailed the blogger threatening litigation on behalf of Chapman.
"His response on the Internet was 'bite me,' " Gill said.
Recently, Black Velvet Bruce Lee took the blog Web site down, eliminating all of the former Web postings. He also discontinued his e-mail address and essentially disappeared into cyberspace.
"Either he feels like he accomplished his mission and he took the site down. Or he's afraid of the lawsuit and doesn't want the evidence to be out there, so he got rid of the evidence," Chapman said.
"I certainly think one of the reasons he took everything down was because of the litigation," Gill said. "The guy basically existed to go after Steve."
Gill said his law firm is actively searching for Black Velvet Bruce Lee and attorneys may resort to subpoenaing records from the blogger's Internet service provider.
"I have to use all reasonable means to try to find out his identity," Gill said. "The people that I have called say they don't know him."
But Black Velvet Bruce Lee could live on. On Monday, Manassas resident Greg Letiecq recreated the blogger's Web site and announced his takeover of the blog.
The 42-year-old computer programmer was an active contributor to the Black Velvet Bruce Lee blog.
He said he only communicated with the original blogger via e-mail and does not know his identity.
"I don't know who he is, I don't know where he's at," Letiecq said. "I suspect he's someone who lives somewhere in Manassas City."
Letiecq said Black Velvet Bruce Lee backed up his claims against Chapman.
"I'm certain that he meant to be as incisive as he was," Letiecq said. "But he was also reporting demonstrated fact. His opinions were very clear, but he was providing evidence and that's important."
Letiecq said Chapman's lawsuit is "baseless" and has "no merit at all."
"He's a public figure," he said. "I think he's overreacting."
"I realized as a public figure you're more susceptible, that's never bothered me," Chapman said. "I don't think people should be able to unmercifully attack others, whether they're public figures or not, without a foundation."
Since Letiecq now runs the Black Velvet Bruce Lee blog site, Gill said the new blogger could be named in the lawsuit even though the new site contains none of the original postings.
Letiecq said he is anticipating litigation. "I'm certain something's going to come," he said. "I've had a couple of friends call me and say they're getting contacted, they're getting pumped for information."
Letiecq said he would only shut down the blog if he were ordered to.
"I would obviously comply with whatever a court told me to do," he said. "Newspapers don't shut down because they get threatened, they just keep going."
Chapman referred to the blog Web site as a "hate site" that caters to the "politics of personal destruction."
Gill said all Chapman is "looking for is a retraction and an apology."
The Black Velvet Bruce Lee blog is one of several Web sites and discussion forums dedicated to Manassas politics. Letiecq became involved with the original site only a month ago and said blogs help educate voters.
"I felt like I was incompetent when I went into the voting booth," he said. "What I noticed is reading what these blog observers have posted has made me a much better voter."
"It's given me a lot of good information," he continued. "It's not always been of journalist quality, but someone can always come in and dispute a posting. I think it's invaluable."
Letiecq credits Black Velvet Bruce Lee's site for shedding light on Manassas politics and took over the site to continue the political discourse.
"It's become an important resource," he said. "It's been focused specifically on the races and issues of interest to this small part of Virginia. If BVBL was gone there really would be no one to take over that. We can do better than that."
Chapman said he might now join the campaign of another Republican candidate, but he would not disclose who.
Republicans will hold a convention in June to vote for an official candidate. Chapman's absence narrows the contestant pool down to two, Manassas City Councilman Jackson H. Miller and local attorney Carroll A. Weimer Jr.
"The two candidates left are both fine candidates," said Kostelecky. "The Republican party will be well served by either."
"I had no idea there was a deadline," Chapman said. "We had a fundraiser the night before and it never came up. No one in my campaign knew there was a deadline."
If you plan to run for an office, don't you think you should at least inquire as to what the filing deadline is Steve?
"I had no idea there was a deadline," Chapman said. "We had a fundraiser the night before and it never came up. No one in my campaign knew there was a deadline."
BS. Everything has a deadline, dolt.
One more reason why it's good that he's out of it.
If he did not know there was a deadline, then he's incompetent.
Exactly!
What a great start to a political career. Miss the filing deadline and then blame a blogger. What a nitwit.
Only Democrats get to change laws retroactively when they lose according to the law.
Now you've done it... He'll probably want to sue you now...
Regardless of whether Chapman was a victim of a blogger or not, "Black Velvet Bruce Lee" had better have been smart enough to hide behind proxy servers and other anonymous mechanisms while blogging or Chapman can most certainly locate him, identify him, and sue the daylights out of him.
Whether Chapman wins or not, is another story.
I haven't got a dog in this fight.
Chapman referred to the blog Web site as a "hate site" that caters to the "politics of personal destruction."And he blames the blogger for his own incompetence and ignorance about the filing deadline.
LOL! Willie Green? Is that you?
Survival of the fittest, comes to mind.
Better now than later.
This gives a new meaning the the term "no-brainer".
It is a great example to support why I'm opposed to a single national primary day. Sure, flipping flapjacks in New Hampshire seems sort of silly, but these little traditions and quirks from each state's local primaries gives us a chance to see how candidates handle the routine stuff. They might complain about how they are supposed to master all these local rituals, but the real trick is for them to have the organizing capability to assemble a staff that can figure all that stuff out. That is the real test.
Just go to court and say that people who want you for their nominee have a right to vote for you. Worked for the New Jersey Democrats when Robert Torricelli was tanking in the polls and the Democrats wanted to do a switcheroo.Oh, you say this guy is a Republican? Never mind . . .
Sounds like you have whining and blaming others mastered, Chapman. You're a natural born Democrat, you thin skinned punk. Please switch parties.
Steve is TDTR (Too Dumb to Run)
Maybe he can still run as a Democrat. People who are too stupid to be allowed to vote are one of the Democrats' core demographic groups.
Chapman has now filed a lawsuit against the Black Velvet Bruce Lee blog seeking $200K in damages!!!
http://blackvelvetbrucelee.blogspot.com/2006/06/lawsuit-filed.html
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