We have learned a few things from the Republican primary, but it raises even more questions:
Rigell, the Republican establishment candidate and presumptive nominee endorsed by Gov. McDonnell only had the full support of 40% of the Republican voters. Will the majority of Republicans who voted against him in the primary vote for him in the general election?
Loyola, the candidate officially endorsed by the board of the Hampton Roads Tea Party and the president of the Virginia Beach Taxpayers Alliance lost badly. A low turnout primary election like this is supposed to favor highly-motivated activists like the Tea Party is supposed to be. Only 9% of registered voters showed up at the polls, and only 27% of those voted for Loyola, a minority within a minority.
The Hampton Roads Tea Party reportedly has 825 individuals on facebook and 975 registered on their website, but their leader Hurd claims a total of 2,000 people on their mailing list. There are about 1.7 million people in Hampton Roads and 498,434 registered voters in the 2nd district. Even if all 2,000 of the people on their mailing list live in the 2nd district, they would represent only 0.4% of registered voters. They make a lot of noise and get a lot of press attention, but they don’t seem to have nearly as much “clout” as they think they do.
Hurd said “We feel the Republican political machine in Hampton Roads needs to be defeated” (a quote I’m not going to let them forget). What will they do now? Suck it up, reverse themselves and embrace Rigell, or vote for independent candidate Golden, or just stay home in November?
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