The 24th money race

Chris Graham

Story by Chris Graham Big money is flowing into the hotly contested Republican Party primary in the 24th Senate District – and it’s going out as quickly as candidates Emmett Hanger and Scott Sayre can spend it. Hanger, the three-term incumbent from Mount Solon, raised $87,864 in the April 1-May 30 reporting period, according to…

Cox wins Dem nomination

Chris Graham

Story by Chris Graham The mood was triumphant, almost giddy. Republicans in the 24th Senate District seem almost hopelessly divided – and local Democrats think they smell blood in the water. “We have this unprecedented opportunity to get somebody in this seat who can make a difference in Richmond, who can help Gov. Kaine, who…

Immigration issues in the 24th GOP race

Chris Graham

Story by Chris Graham Emmett Hanger has come under fire from Scott Sayre in their contest for the 24th Senate District Republican Party nomination for his efforts to get legislation that would allow undocumented immigrants meeting several specific conditions to qualify for in-state tuition benefits. We asked the two candidates to discuss their positions on…

Three strikes, but not out

Jim Bishop

Bishop’s Mantle column by Jim Bishop “EMU – Bluffton baseball game cancelled.” This notice in small type on the calendar of the sports section of the Harrisonburg Daily News-Record might normally command a passing glance. But on this occasion, these few words jumped out at me like special effects in a 3-D movie, a jarring…

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…