After months of contention among party leadership and claims of cheating and irregularities among the candidates, the Republican Party of Virginia will finally select its candidates for statewide office on Saturday, although the final count may not be known for several days. The candidates have fanned out across the state, emphasizing policies like reopening schools and businesses, supporting gun rights, and fighting for election integrity. This week the candidates are making their final appeals to convention delegates with more calls for reform, campaign stops, and support from major GOP political figures.
Senator Amanda Chase (R-Chesterfield)
Chase has been continuing her campaign stops around the state, with visits to several localities across northern Virginia this week. She’s also assembled an informal ticket by endorsing lieutenant governor candidate Winsome Sears and attorney general candidate Chuck Smith. On Wednesday, she endorsed one of Sears’ opponents, Lance Allen.
“Lance is a fighter, he’s got the can-do spirit,” Chase said. “He’s about the truth. He reminds me a lot of my biggest hero Donald J. Trump in his ability and his willingness to tell the truth no matter what.”
Delegate Kirk Cox (R-Colonial Heights)
Cox has been crossing the state making campaign stops. Additionally, his campaign has been publishing multiple statements highlighting key positions including promoting American exceptionalism in the classroom, warning about student learning losses due to virtual learning, and criticizing the Virginia Employment Commission for its abnormally slow response to evaluate certain unemployment claims.
Cox has repeated his concerns about Virginia schools multiple times on Breitbart recently, including on Monday, when he told Breitbart News Daily, “To me, [critical race theory] basically says that America is a fundamentally bad place and our country is broken.”
In the interview, Cox added, “We used to teach, to me, our kids that our country came together from different backgrounds to form the great American melting pot. But now kids are being taught with this theory to seek out and scrutinize differences in a way that divides rather than unites.”
Sergio De la Peña
On Wednesday, De la Peña’s campaign emailed supporters announcing an election integrity hotline focused on the May 8 nomination convention.
“With 39 voting locations across our Commonwealth, we need YOUR HELP to be our eyes and ears for ANY issues whatsoever that might challenge the integrity of the outcome,” states the email titled “‘See Something… Say Something’ @ RPV Convention.”
The email strikes a similar note to concern from other candidates who have worried about potential flaws in the process, RPV officials with ties to candidates, and campaign staffers who misrepresented themselves as RPV officials. The email is also similar to statements De la Peña and other candidates have made about the need for elections integrity beyond the nomination process.
“Free and fair elections are a key part of the American dream,” De la Peña tweeted on Wednesday.
Pete Snyder
Snyder’s been on the road with his smoker and ‘Conservative Outlaw’ allies. On Wednesday, Sarah Huckabee Sanders joined Snyder’s Conservative Outlaw tour in northern Virginia. Snyder also wrote an op-ed for The Roanoke Times, published Tuesday, where he criticized “eight years of failed Northam-McAuliffe rule.”
“The extremists in Washington, D.C. and Richmond have declared war on our God-given constitutional rights and have launched an assault on our freedom of speech by embracing cancel culture. We need new leadership that will protect and preserve our rights, our differing opinions, and our pursuit of life, liberty, and happiness,” Snyder wrote.
He highlighted the need for full-time in-person education and reopening the economy, saying he offers “a different path of common-sense conservative solutions.”
Glenn Youngkin
Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas) joined Youngkin for some of his campaign stops this week. On Wednesday, the Youngkin campaign announced more funding for down-ballot Republican races through his Virginia Wins PAC, and highlighted Youngkin’s investment of over $400,000 in personal funds into the PAC.
On Tuesday, Youngkin spoke to Tucker Carlson on Fox News in a segment highlighting policy changes in Virginia, including concerns about changes in education policy, police reform, and right-to-work.
He said he retired from his job as Carlyle CEO to prepare for his run for governor.
Youngkin said, “Virginians are ready for a change. We’re ready for a governor who’s got a business career, who knows how to get things done and deliver results, not empty promises, and to put Virginia back on the path to be the best state in the country to live, and work, and raise a family.”
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Eric Burk is a reporter at The Virginia Star and the Star News Digital Network. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Kirk Cox” by Kirk Cox. Background Photo “Virginia Capitol” by Amadeust. CC BY-SA 3.0.
