Last night Republican 10th District Chairman John Whitbeck declared himself a candidate for state senate in the 33rd district, the current seat of Mark Herring. John Whitbeck remains hopeful that Mark Obenshain will prevail in race for Attorney General but in the event that he doesn’t, republicans need to be prepared to take the seat that will be vacated by Mark Herring. At the Loudoun county republican committee meeting, Whitbeck announced his run to thunderous applause and a standing ovation. Most of the Loudoun Board of Supervisors, Loudoun Constitutional officers, and many Loudoun delegates attended the meeting to show their support for Chairman Whitbeck. Senator Dick Black introduced John Whitbeck with the first standing ovation of support. John is a mainstream conservative who supports local control of education, the Second Amendment, and the stopping of Obamacare. Only if republicans take back the Virginia senate will it be possible to stop Obamacare in Virginia.
At least 95% of the crowd was wearing stickers in support of John Whitbeck. The crowd interrupted his speech with applause numerous times. Clearly Loudoun County republicans support John Whitbeck!
From John’s remarks,
“I have personally spoken to Mark Obenshain about my announcement, and we are working very hard together to ensure that he is next Attorney General,” said Whitbeck. “However, as Mark agrees, we need to be prepared to run this campaign depending on what happens with the recount.”
“I am running for the State Senate to ensure Obamacare is not expanded in Virginia, to make sure tax dollars taken from our region for transportation stay in our region, and that our children have access to a world-class education.”
“With millions of Americans losing their health insurance and many suffering from increased healthcare costs, it is unfortunate that Terry McAuliffe has signaled his intention to force the expansion of Obamacare on Virginians. This divisive plan would hurt Virginia families and businesses, and we will need effective leadership in Richmond to stop it.”
John Whitbeck is a partner in the Leesburg law firm Whitbeck, Cisneros McElroy, PC and an adjunct professor at George Mason Law School. Whitbeck also served as a Substitute Judge for five years and is the former President of the Lansdowne Homeowner’s Association. He is married with two little girls and a third one on the way in January. His list of endorsements is extensive and can be found here.
Also at the meeting was a young man from Fairfax County, Ron Meyer, who declared his candidacy for the same senate seat. Ron has been running for Congress against Gerry Connolly in the 11th district but has now changed his candidacy to run for the seat in the 33rd senate district. Few at the meeting knew he was. He said he was running to attract the youth vote because too many republicans are ‘old, white, men’, in the process he insulted most of the people in the room who were older than his 23 years. It seemed an odd stance considering that John Whitbeck is only 35 years old and both men are Caucasians. The 33rd senate district is largely in Loudoun, with only 28% in Fairfax.
More about John Whitbeck here.