Hanger pushes back

Chris Graham

Story by Chris Graham Emmett Hanger is not going to be pushed around by the local Republican Party apparatus. “A lot of attention has been paid to the fact that there are individuals within the Republican Party in leadership positions who are not supporting me,” said Hanger, a three-term incumbent state senator who formally kicked…

Sayre takes no-tax pledge

Chris Graham

Story by Chris Graham It should be no surprise that Scott Sayre has made formal his pledge against raising taxes. Sayre, a Buena Vista businessman who is challenging incumbent Sen. Emmett Hanger, R-Mount Solon, for the Republican Party nomination in the 24th Senate District, made it official on Tuesday – announcing that he has signed…

Sayre gets VCAP endorsement

Chris Graham

Column by Chris Graham Scott Sayre will need to get the backing of grassroots conservatives for his bid to unseat 24th District state senator Emmett Hanger to be successful. He picked up the endorsement of the cash- and member-rich Virginia Conservative Action PAC today – leading to the obvious question. Should Sen. Hanger be worried?

Sayre announces candidacy in 24th

Chris Graham

Story by Chris Graham Scott Sayre wants to take his conservative values to Richmond. He also wants to take the high road from the Shenandoah Valley to the State Capitol. “This is going to be a very, very positive campaign,” said Sayre, who announced today that he will be challenging the three-term incumbent in the…

The battle for the heart and soul of the GOP

Chris Graham

The Top Story by Chris Graham   For a brief moment or two after the 2006 midterm elections, it had seemed that the Republican Party was perhaps going off its ideological moorings. The talk was reaching the level of near-clamor regarding how the GOP was going to have to consider retreating from the right-wing conservative…

Right to left? In what direction will Dems take national politics?

Chris Graham

The Top Story by Chris Graham   It hasn’t been that long since some in the punditry and the blogosphere were speculating aloud about how Republican victories in the race for the White House and in Congress in 2004 might be signaling the dawn of a GOP century. And it seems that now, instead of…

Good ol’ boy Allen facing new Virginia electorate

Chris Graham

Story by Chris Graham Jim Webb has closed the gap on George Allen – and has even, according to one newspaper poll, surged into the lead in the United States Senate race between the two. The conventional wisdom attributes the momentum that the Democratic Party nominee has been enjoying in recent weeks to an incident…

And then there were two: Democratic Senate race now twice as nice

Chris Graham

The Top Story by Chris Graham   James Webb has some explaining to do to Democratic Party voters in Virginia this spring. But if he can wade through that minefield like he did through a long military career that included a tour of duty in Vietnam and a stint as Ronald Reagan’s secretary of the…

Shades of Florida in AG race

Chris Graham

Story by Chris Graham Bob McDonnell has claimed victory. Creigh Deeds has vowed to fight to ensure that every vote has been counted. And so the Virginia political world turns as the race for attorney general moves toward week three of overtime. “The people get to decide who the next attorney general is, not Bob…

Virginia Tech’s ACC booster

Chris Graham

The Top Story by Chris Graham The Big East was going up in flames around them, but Virginia Tech officials knew their bird, as it were, wasn’t cooked quite yet. Because they had a key ally in the moves being orchestrated by the Atlantic Coast Conference to raid the Big East for new members. “The…