Jennifer Brown Should be Apologizing, not Attacking

Jennifer Brown, current and embattled 6^th District GOP Committee Chair, showed again earlier this week that she is not fit to lead a political party after her latest rant on social media.  It appears that since she did not get her way in Tuesday night’s 6^th District meeting, she went to social media to rant and insult those who disagreed with her at the meeting.  

At issue this time was the standing of current Central Region Vice Chairman Craig Storrs, who wrote in a letter to the Lynchburg Area Young Republicans (LAYR) earlier this year stating that he had taken a new job, would be moving to Pennsylvania, and thus would no longer able to serve as the LAYR Chair.  So when Mr. Storrs was participating in the 6^th Congressional District meeting on the evening of April 28, several members of the 6^th District Committee were rightfully curious to see if Mr. Storrs was still eligible to serve on the 6^th District Committee.  During one part of a debate on the future convention while Mr. Storrs was speaking, Roanoke City Chairman Charlie Nave questioned whether or not Mr. Storrs should be allowed to speak during discussion of a motion as he was no longer a Virginia resident and thus could no longer be considered a member of the 6^th District Committee.  Another Committee Member stated that this topic was not germane to the motion at hand, and the subject of Mr. Storrs was left unsettled at that time.  

Instead of talking to Chairman Nave as a reasonable adult would, Jennifer Brown went on a Facebook  rant, stating that Mr. Nave has been calling delegates and saying that Jennifer Brown is not a Christian, and has been engaging in “lies and smear tactics because he has nothing else to go on.”  These accusations are not true as evidenced by the fact Jennifer provided no documents showing any communications public or private from Mr. Nave that shows he engaged in these activities.

Why would Jennifer Brown fabricate a story claiming to be a victim of Christian bashing? Most likely it was to change the subject from the real and documented Christian bashing from the Brown team. It wasn’t highly publicized, but it is true, none the less, that Brown Campaign member Matt Colt Hall attacked Christians supporting an opposing candidate publically in a radio interview saying they came from, “ far right-wing narrow-minded church groups”.  As you can see from the audio clip below, Jennifer Brown was right there with Hall in the interview and made no attempt to correct Hall or disagree with the attack. Ms. Brown has ignored calls for an explanation and apology. But Christian Republicans whose religious views were specifically attacked by the Brown team surely deserve one.
The interview is available at this link.

As if this weren’t bad enough Ms. Brown also called RPV State Central Member Steven “Doc” Troxel, the “Jim Acosta of the 6^th”.  Doc Troxel is one of the most respected members of the Republican Party of Virginia, and is a beacon of light in tumultuous times.   Doc Troxel is an expert in our party rules and procedures and a huge asset to the committee.  Agree or disagree with Doc Troxel, most everyone likes him and respects him.  Very few doubt Doc Troxel’s integrity and for Chairwoman Brown to attack Doc Troxel is a disgrace.  

Roanoke City Chair Charlie Nave has unified the City Committee and its numbers have expanded greatly during his term.  Nave has been an outspoken defender of the 2^nd Amendment, and has been recruiting candidates to run in City elections.  Nave also had candidates who were interested in running against State Delegate Sam Rasoul and State Senator John Edwards, but those candidates backed out because they were worried about being blindsided by Jennifer Brown and her team. If you are concerned that there are not enough Republicans running for office and challenging Democrats, you need look no further than behavior like that of Jennifer Brown and her team for the reason why good Republicans are reluctant to get involved. Potential candidates do not want to begin a campaign when they run the risk of being insulted, attacked, or even sued (as she has done to one of her former volunteers) by Ms. Brown over some imagined offense.

At a time when the party needs to work together to ensure that we elect Donald Trump and defeat Mark Warner, Jennifer Brown is doing her best to divide the Party.  The 6^th Congressional District is one of the most Republican areas in Virginia, and voter turnout needs to be increased in the Shenandoah and Roanoke Valleys.  If all Jennifer Brown can do is to slander someone for bringing up a topic in a meeting she is supposed to lead, then she then she needs to be replaced, and the sooner the better.  

A more mature person at the helm would have contacted Charlie Nave and Doc Troxel and see if there was some way to work issues out.  However it seems that all Jennifer Brown has left is to slander and abuse anyone who disagrees with her on social media.  The future of Virginia is at stake, and this is why we need to elect as the 6^th District Chair a real leader, and that is John Massoud.