Kleiner announces candidacy in 20th
For the record, she’s not 21. On Saturday, Laura Kleiner, who announced her candidacy for the Democratic Party nomination in the 20th House District, turned 22.
A dozen local Democrats turned out at an event at the Stratton Building in Downtown Staunton for the announcement. Kleiner to date is the only candidate in the race for the Democratic Party nomination in the 20th, which will now represent Waynesboro and Nelson County in addition to Staunton, portions of Augusta County and the entirety of Highland County.
Republican Dickie Bell, a former Staunton City Councilman, currently holds the seat.
A current member of Staunton City Council, Bruce Elder, helped introduce Kleiner at her announcement event on Saturday.
“We are here on this glorious, sunny, perfect Virginia day to talk about the future of Virginia,” said Elder, a second-term City Councilman who ran unsuccessfully in 2005 for the 20th District seat, losing to former State Del. Chris Saxman.
Also on hand was Creigh Deeds, a state senator whose House district used to represent a wide swath of territory now encompassing the new 20th District.
“It’s tough as nails to run as a Democrat in this part of the world. And I’ve got a few scars I can show you,” said Deeds, who lost as the Democratic Party nominee in the 2009 governor’s race.
“Laura understands that. She’s going into this race with eyes wide open,” Deeds said. “She’s got a positive vision for Virginia’s future. She’s got positive energy and lots of ideas. She’s exactly the kind of person that we need to be encouraging to get involved in the political process. And she’s going to bring leadership to the House of Delegates that moves the ball forward and creates opportunity for all Virginians.”
Kleiner is a Mary Baldwin College senior who will be graduating from the Staunton private college this month. The Blacksburg native pledged on Saturday to focus her attention on job creation, economic opportunity and education.
“I’m well aware of the economic crisis with which we continue to struggle,” said Kleiner, talking up initiatives ongoing in Staunton promoting entrepreneurial startups and opportunities for established businesses to expand their operations locally.
“As your delegate, I will work to cultivate economic growth,” Kleiner said.
Story by Chris Graham. Chris can be reached at freepress2@ntelos.net.
Republicans sweep local House races
Not much to say about the four contested House of Delegates races in the AFP reader area. The Democrats got pantsed.
Jeff Price’s 28.8 percent showing in his 24th District challenge to Republican Ben Cline was actually the best showing of the four, if you can believe that. And Price wasn’t even able to get what a Green Party candidate, Eric Sheffield, was able to do in 2005 in the 24th against Cline.
Erik Curren got 28.3 percent of the vote against Staunton City Councilman Dickie Bell in the 20th District, even falling short in Staunton by 59.8 percent-to-40.8 percent margin. To put the defeat in Staunton in perspective, Barack Obama won the Queen City last fall. Continue reading “Republicans sweep local House races” »
Chris Graham | Where I am on local elections
I explained in a column today on our new sister website, VirginiaPoliticsToday.com, how much I loathe making endorsements.
That said, I get it that some of our readers are at the least interested in knowing where I am on local elections, assuming that since I do news and analysis for a living I might have some insights into what’s going on.
So … here goes. Continue reading “Chris Graham | Where I am on local elections” »
AFP Focus | Breaking down some campaign money numbers
Dickie Bell had a busy Oct. 1-21 campaign period, raising $13,375 for his 20th District campaign, but Bell also ended the period with $13,635.03 in debts remaining unpaid, according to a report on campaign activity filed with the State Board of Elections this week.
The Bell campaign reported having a balance of $31,200.50 in cash on hand as of Oct. 21. Accounting for the debts remaining unpaid, the campaign would actually have available funds of $17,824.50. Continue reading “AFP Focus | Breaking down some campaign money numbers” »
Democrats aim high
Marrow, Curren face steep hills to climb
Story by Chris Graham
newdominion@ntelos.net
A candidate for public office needs to shake as many hands and slap as many backs as possible. A Democratic Party candidate in the bright-red Shenandoah Valley has to work twice as hard to have a shot on Election Day.
“You’ve got to beat the streets, pound the pavement,” 25th District Democratic Party candidate Greg Marrow said before a meet-and-greet with voters in Waynesboro earlier this month. “I’ve gone through two pairs of shoes already. You’re hot, sweaty, tired. You want to go home and play with your children. But you just know that it’s worth it. You have to believe that it’s going to happen.” Continue reading “Democrats aim high” »
AFP Focus | Checking homework in 20th
Two issues to delve into the 20th District race today, both involving homework.
First, regarding Adrian Rogers and Dickie Bell being a “Republican for a Reason.” The website for Bell, the Republican nominee, featured a quote from the late Rogers, the former head of the American Southern Baptist Convention, on socialism on a webpage titled “Republican for a Reason.” The Bell campaign team failed to do its homework, though. Rogers, an advocate of the inerrancy of the Bible, when asked once his thoughts on what the Bible held on the issue of slavery, answered that slavery was a “much-maligned institution” and offered further that if it had not been abolished “we would not have such a welfare problem.” Continue reading “AFP Focus | Checking homework in 20th” »
AFP InDepth | Clearing up questions on Bell bankruptcy
The hard thing to reporting on a 25-year-old bankruptcy is being able to get to the facts of a matter in which there is a good bit of detail in terms of the initial bankruptcy filing but little more than what people remember on the back end.
That’s what I’ve run into in reporting on the 1984 bankruptcy of Dickie Bell, a four-term Staunton City Council member running for the 20th District seat in the Virginia House of Delegates.
I’ve scoured the Sept. 10, 1984, bankruptcy petition filed by Bell in relation to the failure of his Springhill Road grocery store, The Country Market, and talked at length with Bell, a representative of one of his creditors and several people unattached to the matter who have offered off-the-record business and legal expertise and insight into the bankruptcy process.
The first thing that becomes clear to me is that what I reported last week regarding what Bell’s creditors were repaid was inaccurate. Continue reading “AFP InDepth | Clearing up questions on Bell bankruptcy” »
GOP, for the most part, dominating local House money races
26th District Democrat Gene Hart is giving Republican incumbent Matt Lohr a run for his re-election money, literally. Aside from Hart, though, Democratic candidates contending for seats representing the Central Shenandoah Valley in Richmond are struggling to keep pace with their Republican counterparts.
Hart actually outraised Lohr in the Sept. 1-30 reporting period, according to reports both filed with the State Board of Elections this week. Hart took in $9,974.04 in the month of September, while Lohr raised $4,040 in the period.
Of Lohr’s total, $1,500 came from political action committees – the Altria Corporate Services PAC, the Virginia Coal Association PAC and the Virginia Hospital Association PAC. Hart did not receive any PAC monies in the period. Continue reading “GOP, for the most part, dominating local House money races” »
AFP InDepth | ’84 bankruptcy filing an issue in 20th
20th House District Republican candidate Dickie Bell, under pressure from a bad business deal, and running out of financial options, filed for bankruptcy protection in 1984.
The Augusta Free Press confirmed the filing by obtaining a copy of the court documents associated with the bankruptcy and talking about the circumstances around the filing with Bell on Tuesday.
The bankruptcy had taken on something of the status of legend among the local political chatter class since Bell had been tapped as the 20th District GOP nominee in July. Bell, in his interview with the AFP today, said he had “nothing to hide” in discussing the matter.
“It’s public record. It’s there for anybody to see anytime they want to,” Bell said. Continue reading “AFP InDepth | ’84 bankruptcy filing an issue in 20th” »
Curren raises issue with Bell vote on funding for Staunton golf course
A new fire station, or $600,000 on the public golf course at Gypsy Hill Park? 20th District Democratic candidate Erik Curren is trying to link the two votes cast by Republican opponent Dickie Bell in his tenure on Staunton City Council to raise issue with Bell’s priorities.
“Firefighters and other first responders risk their lives daily,” Curren said. “Surely we owe firefighters the resources they need to get to the scene as quickly as possible. And we owe it to our families and businesses to make sure that our communities have sufficient fire stations to keep us safe.”
Bell voted against funding the new West End fire station, which Fire Chief Scott Garber has said puts 96 percent of the residents and businesses in the Queen City within five minutes of a firehouse. Continue reading “Curren raises issue with Bell vote on funding for Staunton golf course” »
The Pulse | Silly season going on largely outside public view
That’s what I call the part to an election cycle where we have the debates and the candidate endorsement interviews.
I refer to it as the silly season because, well, to be honest, I just don’t see the value to the hand-wringing that goes on with debates and endorsements, on all sides.
Which isn’t to say that I didn’t put a premium value on debates and endorsements back when I was running for City Council in Waynesboro last year. Continue reading “The Pulse | Silly season going on largely outside public view” »
Daily Rant | October Surprise
Posted by afp on October 14, 2009 · 19 Comments
Filed under Blogs · Tagged with 20th district, augusta county, bankruptcy, dickie bell, staunton, virginia