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Here's Your Friday Laugh
It looks Del. Tim Hugo (R-Clifton) will have an interesting opponent in the general election.
The Gentleman from "Statewide"
So…Del. Ward Armstrong (D-Henry) is looking to run for statewide office in 2013. I wonder how this will affect Terry McAuliffe’s bid.
House Speaker Bill Howell reacted to the news quite well by acknowledging Armstrong’s ambition on the House floor.
Election Day in the 41st House and Mason Districts
If you live in the 41st House District or the Mason District, there are two special elections being held to fill vacant seats. In the 41st, Kerry Bolognese is running for the open Delegate seat once held by Dave Marsden. There is also an election in the Mason District to fill the school board seat once held by Kaye Kory. Samantha Rucker is running to fill this seat.
If you live in either one of these districts, you can vote at your normal polling locations.
What Republican Figure Will Democrats Invoke Next?
For the past two special elections in Fairfax County, Democrats have resorted to creating door hangers for GOTV invoking certain talk show hosts and public figures as scare tactics. Dave Marsden used Sarah Palin (we could use it to, as we could say, “I can see my house from my basement apartment”), and now, Eileen Filler-Corn, who is running against Kerry Bolognese, is using Rush Limbaugh. So, my question is: who will they use next?
Is this Teacher a Paid Political Operative?
Recently, the Fairfax Education Association held a press conference to discuss the budget. Also, on the agenda was discussion of the 41st House District, and one of those speaking was a teacher and FEA member who spoke out against Kerry Bolognese and his positions being tailored to score political points. This teacher might have had an interesting past…go figure!
Bolognese releases new TV ad
Kerry Bolognese, candidate for the open House of Delegates seat in the 41st District recently released a new TV ad. The special election to fill this seat will take place on March 2nd at polling locations throughout the 41st District.
Transparency is in the House
During the House session yesterday, legislation was passed requiring that voting records of Members of the House of Delegates and the Virginia Senate be easily retrieved online with a vote of 86 to 13. Del. Jim LeMunyon (R-Chantilly) introduced this legislation, and it received support from both parties. All 20 first term members of the House signed on as co-patrons.
Currently, the Virginia General Assembly’s website has a feature that allows you to see a legislator’s vote on a particular bill, but it does not have a feature, where you can see how your legislators voted on issues by name. This legislation will require that the General Assembly website will allow people to search by Member name in addition to bill number.
LeMunyon said in his floor speech on Monday, “Many of us often recall the well-known words of Thomas Jefferson, ‘Whenever the people are well-informed, they can be trusted with their own government.’. House Bill 778 affords us the opportunity to reaffirm our confidence in Mr. Jefferson’s words.”
Trouble Brewing in the 41st District
Push polling is back again in the 41st District. This sleazy tactic is used to distort the facts and mislead people about candidates. In a time when politics
Today, Kerry Bolognese released this statement about his opponent, Eileen Filler-Corn’s use of push polling in the district.
“I’m outraged that that these false claims would be made at all, much less in a sleazy push poll,” said Bolognese. “Voters are receiving false information about my record on education when I’ve spent the last 17 years of my life trying to improve our higher education system and have family in our local public schools.”
“Push polling brings public discourse to a new low in Virginia. Fortunately, voters in Fairfax County are savvy and have a no tolerance for this type of slash-and-burn politics.”
Unlike legitimate survey research, push polling consists of attack phone calls placed to thousands of voters stating as facts false or misleading information on one candidate.
The Filler-Corn push poll falsely stated that Bolognese:
- supports cutting money from the Fairfax County school budget
- opposes the amount Virginia spends on K-12 education
- says state funding for Virginia Tech, UVA and William & Mary is excessive
Bolognese is a Vice-President of the Association of Public and Land-Grant Universities, which serves public universities and research institutions in America, including UVA and Virginia Tech. He has three children who graduated from Fairfax County High Schools, and a grandchild currently at Orange-Hunt Elementary.
The special election for the open House seat will take place on Tuesday, March 2, 2010 at polling locations within the 41st District from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m.
The Supposed Audacity of Hope (Del.-elect Patrick Hope…that is)
The Virginia General Assembly starts session next Wednesday, and we are already beginning to see fireworks from a Delegate-elect. Recently, a friend of mine, Steve Bierfeldt (you may remember him from a TSA scuffle in Missouri), wrote an email to his newly elected House of Delegates member, Patrick Hope, to ask whether or not he would be supporting Delegate Bob Marshall’s bill to empower Virginians to not be forced into buying mandated health insurance. Hope had the audacity to respond sharply to Bierfeldt. Just read the exchange and be shocked by the response. I thought those we elected to serve us are actually supposed to do just that. I guess this does not apply to the 47th House District.
From: Steve Bierfeldt
Subject: HB 10
To: Patrick Hope
Date: Wednesday, January 6, 2010, 7:58 PMMr. Hope
Will you be co-sponsoring or getting on board with Delegate Bob Marshall’s bill to empower Virginia residents to not be forced to buy mandated health insurance.
- Steve
On Jan 6, 2010, at 3:11 PM, Patrick Hope wrote:Steve – no, health insurance should be affordable and mandatory. Mandates will bring down the cost for people like you and me and you should be supportive. This will also make it affordable. Everyone, individuals and businesses, could use a little more savings in this economic environment.
Patrick
From: Steve Bierfeldt
Subject: Re: HB 10
To: “Patrick Hope”
Date: Wednesday, January 6, 2010, 8:20 PMMr. Hope,
Thank you for responding to my email.
As someone who currently does not have health insurance by choice, the bill being discussed in the U.S. House and Senate includes penalties for people who do not comply, including prison time.
Are you going to help the government to put me in prison? Please be frank, is that what I can expect from my elected Representative for the next two years of your term?
- Steve
Now…for the response….From: Patrick Hope
Date: January 6, 2010 3:30:13 PM EST
To: Steve Bierfeldt
Subject: Re: HB 10it acts like a tax and so if you don’t pay your taxes, over time, you could be facing jail time. Steve, please pay your taxes.
Wow…it takes audacity to be nasty to your constituents. I am pretty certain 2011 might not be so hopeful for Hope, as he runs for re-election.
