Northern Virginia Senator Chap Petersen has introduced an emergency legislation to block the ‘statement of affiliation’ on the Republican Primary ballot on March 1st. The legislation would prevent any political party from requiring voters in a primary to sign any kind of oath. For the bill to become law it must get 80% support in the House of Delegates and the State Senate, followed by the Governor’s signature.
From the Richmond Times-Dispatch:
Petersen said in a phone interview that he is concerned about the prospect of state employees assisting party officials in implementing what he termed a “party purity test.”
“I think it’s a problem ethically, and I think it’s a problem logistically,” Petersen said.
Senator Petersen wrote, I’m happy to save the Republican Party from itself.”
Speaking on behalf of the Republican Party of Virginia David D’Onofrio said:
“Obviously, it’s interesting that a liberal Democrat from Northern Virginia would introduce this,”
He also said both political parties have required similar ballot statements without any objections from the legislature.
“Until Virginia has party registration, this is an inelegant tool to ensure the Republican process,” D’Onofrio said, adding that making sure Republicans choose the GOP nominee “doesn’t seem like an unreasonable standard.”
More here.
10 comments
Maybe the GOP should hire Petersen to run the RPV.
The Democrats do the same thing – want to vote in a Dem. primary or caucus, they ask you to sign an oath saying you are a Dem. and will support the final nominee. What a hypocrite.
Actually, that’s simply not true. There is no comparable loyalty oath required to vote in Democratic primaries.
Yeah, because … because Senate Democrats ALWAYS have the best interests of the GOP at heart….
It has nothing to do with “best interests.” The point is that Republicans are making mud pies for the Democrats to throw at the Republican party.
Well, sure: Republicans who constantly whine when they don’t get their way, and frequently whine even when they do….
” Let the CCRP Boyer / Williams Republicans keep the pledge ” is what I said back then {mass meeting}. As said by many wiser voices than I here it doesn’t have good and is counterproductive. You become inbread in a sense.
Did you see the public support come to LU for Trump.
It wasn’t just the weak 100 in the CCRP.
Will they be outside judging you based on where you are employeed { in CC you are not given political voice because you are a teacher , a Deputy }then have a lawsuit after we elect the next Republican Presidential nominee Donald Trump.
Don’t worry Trump supporters will do everything for him , tonight I will be at Wednsday Church Dinner showing Fredericks spot on endorsement of Trump.
I wondered how long it was going to take before the Democrats began to spin this back on the Republicans. I’m quite sure in the big picture they could care less about the piece of paper itself but it’s far to good of an opportunity to ignore in spreading a few more pounds on bad PR in their opposition’s direction. I’m rather surprised the ethnic and voting rights card hasn’t been played yet. Remember this isn’t about who is right and who is wrong this is about how much mischief you can create for the Republicans from an incredibly ill advised idea. I’ve afraid the answer is quite a bit as another week goes by and the issue is still in the media.
On the one hand, I don’t expect anything good for me or for the country to come from a Democrat.
On the other hand, both parties already have a way to limit the people choosing their candidates to just party members… its called a Convention.
Yes…this is the morass we threw ourselves into when we chose to have the state administer our internal process. We should have known better (many of us did, in fact).