State Senator Emmett W. Hanger, Jr. fended off a challenge from Scott Sayre in the June 12 Republican primary for the party’s nomination in the 24th District, which is centered in the Shenandoah Valley. Hanger, who seeks a fourth four-year term, won with 53 percent of the vote by a margin of 865 ballots. Voter turnout in the primary was around 13 percent, making it the second highest among the state’s six senate primaries.
 State Senator Emmett Hanger beat Republican primary challenger Scott Sayre, who accused Hanger of being too soft on immigration and taxes. |
Sayre’s campaign message focused on issues such as illegal immigration and tax reform. Some party leaders argued Hanger did not share their conservative views on these issues. Hanger’s win in the primary comes in spite of losing district precincts, including those in western Albemarle, where he received only 30 percent of the vote.
Christian Schoenewald, vice chair of the Albemarle County Republican Committee, says winning percentages for Sayre in these areas represents frustration with Hanger shared by some party leaders and grassroots supporters. According to Schoenewald, some in the party are still upset with comments Hanger made in an April interview with The New Dominion, a quarterly news journal based in Augusta County.
“I’ve gone to the community leaders because I think they’re more significant than the members of local parties who find themselves in offices at any particular point in time—because those are somewhat thankless jobs that we kind of hand over to anybody who says they want them,” said Hanger in the interview.
“It’s hard to support [Hanger] when he has such a low opinion of party leaders,” says Schoenewald. “If he wants grassroots Republican workers to support him, he has to apologize. We stepped up and volunteered. We’re not just people who walked in off the street.”
Hanger is aware that a number of bloggers avidly discussed the quote from The New Dominion leading up to the primary. “I don’t engage in negative commentary,” says Hanger.
According to Hanger, the Republican unit chairs in Albemarle, Augusta, Staunton, Waynesboro and Rockingham were part of an original search committee to find a challenger in the district. “Some would suggest this is an inappropriate action for a unit chair,” says Hanger.
In the November 6 election, Hanger will face Democrat David Cox, a retired Episcopal priest from Lexington, and Libertarian Arin Sime, a small business owner from Crozet.
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