Chichester supports lawyer for his seat in the Virginia Senate

RICHMOND--A fourth candidate has entered the race for the Republican nomination to replace Sen. John Chichester, and this one has Chichester's blessing--and that of House Speaker Bill Howell.

Westmoreland County attorney Richard Stuart, a former commonwealth's attorney, announced yesterday that he will seek the Republican nomination for the 28th state Senate district, which Chichester has held for 29 years. Chichester is retiring at the end of this year.

Along with Stuart's announcement came endorsements from Chichester and Howell, both of whom had been staying out of the nomination race up to this point.

Stuart joins Iraq War veteran Jonathan Myers and businessmen John Van Hoy and Joe Graziano in the race to win the nomination.

Stuart said he thinks he is a stronger candidate against Democrat Albert Pollard Jr., who also is running for the seat, because both Pollard and Stuart are from the Northern Neck. The other three Republican candidates are from Stafford County.

"Frankly, the guys in Stafford wouldn't have much of a chance against him in the Northern Neck," Stuart said.

Stuart said he's a conservative Republican, although perhaps not as conservative as some of the other Republicans in the race.

"I am not ultra, ultra conservative. I am pro-life, I support the Second Amendment, and taxes to me are a last resort. But I would never say never," Stuart said.

Several other candidates pointed out that according to campaign donor data from the Virginia Public Access Project, Stuart has donated more money to Democrats than to Republicans in the past, by a thin margin.

He gave $250 to Pollard and $200 to former Gov. Mark Warner, as well as $250 to Republican gubernatorial candidate Jerry Kilgore, and $50 to Del. Rob Wittman--whom Stuart said yesterday is endorsing him, as well.

Having the backing of Howell and Chichester adds an interesting element to an already tumultuous nomination process.

Staunch conservatives have been angry at Chichester for years because of his willingness to raise taxes to pay for state services. But the majority of Republicans have voted for him over the years.

Chichester is no more worried about the right wing of his party than he ever was.

"No one person is going to have the support of all the members of our party," Chichester said yesterday.

He said he's backing Stuart because Stuart's fiscal philosophies are in line with his own, and because he's an independent thinker.

Howell said he decided to back Stuart primarily because he's from the Northern Neck, which Howell thinks will mitigate Pollard's expected strength there.

But the others aren't very happy with Howell's backing of Stuart. They were under the impression the speaker was staying out of the race altogether.

Graziano called Howell's endorsement of Stuart "shocking" and "nothing short of a sickening betrayal" of conservatives.

Myers was also under the impression Howell was staying out of the race, but said he'll continue to focus on his own campaign. Myers pointed out that he has been endorsed by all the local Republican elected officials in Stafford--such as supervisors and School Board members.

Van Hoy is backed by Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling and Jim Gilmore, the former governor now running for president.

Stuart, 43, married and father of three, is the last candidate to enter the nomination race, and said he knows he's behind in fundraising.

Van Hoy, who entered the race first, raised about $15,000 as of April 1, when the first-quarter finance reporting period ended. At that point, none of the others had officially started their campaigns; now, Myers said he has raised about $26,000 and Graziano has raised $20,000.

The nomination will be decided in a Republican-only firehouse primary on May 19. Republican leaders have said voters will have to sign a pledge to support whomever the Republican nominee is in the November election.

Chichester called that "malarkey," "unenforceable" and a "method to intimidate voters."

"I'll halfway do that, but compliance will be something else. I'll tell them that right up front," said Chichester, who intends to vote in the primary. "I encourage people to go in there, and if they want you to sign something sign whatever you want, and in the general election, do what you want to do."

I can understand why a RINO like Chichester would support the most liberal candidate....

But why would our State Leaders like Howell support him....

Memo to RPV...we need more CONSERVATIVES !!

The answer to your question is right there in the story:

Howell said he decided to back Stuart primarily because he's from the Northern Neck, which Howell thinks will mitigate Pollard's expected strength there

It's the "Rudy Giuliani" argument, as applied to a local race. Howell thinks he is "conservative enough", but mostly thinks he's the only guy who can counter some perceived strength of the democratic opponent.

Howell thinks it is more important to win the election than pick the best candidate, and thinks that picking the candidate most like the democrat (in this case, in location, but in Rudy's case that is philosophy) will counter the democrat's strength and lead to victory.

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