Three Marines and a doctor walk into a bar… Cards on the table: It’s going to be difficult for a Democrat to win the race for Virginia’s (heavily gerrymandered) 5th Congressional District. In 2018, on the back of historic turnout and a nationwide blue wave, and running against a Republican who didn’t have an […]
Three Marines and a doctor walk into a bar… Cards on the table: It’s going to be difficult for a Democrat to win the race for Virginia’s (heavily gerrymandered) 5th Congressional District. In 2018, on the back of historic turnout and a nationwide blue wave, and running against a Republican who didn’t have an […]
Three Democratic women in Virginia upset Republicans in House of Representatives races Tuesday–but Leslie Cockburn wasn’t one of them. The investigative journalist and Rappahannock County resident fell short against Republican Denver Riggleman in the 5th district race, despite raising more money and an army of 1,500 volunteers. The district, which includes Charlottesville and Albemarle County, […]
Riggleman snatches 5th District Republican nomination Five days after Congressman Tom Garrett announced he would not seek re-election to deal with alcoholism, distiller and former gubernatorial candidate Denver Riggleman fended off 10 other candidates in a five-hour marathon meeting June 2 at Nelson County High in Lovingston and secured the nomination by one vote. Because […]
Garrett’s abrupt change of heart Congressman Tom Garrett has many critics in the Charlottesville area who call him “One-term Tom,” but even they didn’t foresee that happening by Garrett withdrawing from the 5th District race. Word that Garrett may not seek re-election first was reported by Politico May 23 after he and his chief of […]
She frequently wears a green quilted vest—and her campaign has high production values, perhaps fitting for a former “60 Minutes” producer. Two weeks before the 5th District Democratic convention May 5 in Farmville, and after 23 caucuses, Leslie Cockburn amassed the most delegates in a field of four candidates to be the presumptive nominee. The […]
Calming effect “That’s the reason we did this—people fly down the street,” says Shawnee West as she watches a car drive through the intersection of Little High and 11th streets. West is standing at the edge of the circular traffic-calming mural she designed with the help of one of her neighbors. Last fall, West and […]
Touting his background growing up on a farm and as an attorney, Andrew Sneathern threw his cap into the 2018 5th District congressional race today before dozens of supporters at Champion Brewery. Sneathern, 46, plans to tap into the “unbelievable wealth of power coming from the Democratic party now, something I’ve never seen before,” he […]
Craig DuBose made his appointment February 1 to meet with Congressman Tom Garrett in the congressman’s Charlottesville office March 6. Heather Rowland made hers February 10. Both constituents called to confirm their appointments before showing up at Garrett’s Berkmar Crossing office, and both were dismayed to learn Garrett wasn’t there. “I was disappointed,” says DuBose, […]
While Tom Garrett carried the 5th District with 58 percent of the vote, his popularity didn’t seep into the Dem-majority Charlottesville area. In office less than a month, the new congressman has had hundreds of protesters show up every week at his Berkmar Crossing office, to the consternation of some of the business park’s owners […]
In a normal election year, the incumbent Republican 5th District congressman would run for re-election and win. That’s how it works. Incumbents are always favored, and in a gerrymandered district, they’ve already picked their voters. Turns out 2016 is anything but a normal election year. At the top of the ticket are two of the […]