This morning Fairfax County Clerk of the Court and lone Republican John T. Frey took to Facebook to offer up his full endorsement of Democratic Fairfax Commonwealth’s Attorney Ray Morrogh, who is being challenged by a hard leftist (and there is no GOP candidate).
Frey’s post was shared and endorsed by Springfield Supervisor Pat Herrity. It was also supported by Democratic operative Ben Tribbett (a Morrogh supporter), who proceeded to get into an argument with disgraced former Fairfax City Mayor Scott Silverthorne that proved very entertaining. It is an interesting development in Fairfax County local politics, which has seen all but a precious few Republicans driven from office. Currently the only GOP officeholders from the county are Frey, Herrity, John Cook (who is retiring), Tim Hugo, Elizabeth Schultz and Thomas Wilson. That’s it.
Recall in December of last year your humble author posited this very idea here at The Bull Elephant that Fairfax County Republicans should organize on mass to vote in open Democratic primaries when there is a moderate alternative to a hard social justice leftist. My basic argument is if Republicans reliably vote in Democratic open primaries we can build a coalition of moderates to stem the tide of the insanity that is befalling Fairfax.
One thing that does stand in the way of this the Republican Party of Virginia Party Plan, which states in Article I, Section A, Line 4: “[T]o be in accord with the principles of the Republican Party, unless otherwise stipulated by the appropriate Official Committee, a person otherwise qualified hereunder shall not have participated in Virginia in the nomination process of a party other than the Republican Party with in the last five years.” To be sure, I doubt there are many Republicans in Fairfax County that give a damn about RPV, and with good reason. However if timed wrong this five year ban could affect the GOP presidential race in 2024. I would certainly love to see RPV amend the party plan to allow local units in heavily majority blue counties to avoid punishment for working to ensure that very hardest of hard left are denied local office.
I whole-heartedly endorse Frey and Herrity’s call for Republicans to vote in the June 11 Democratic primary and vote for Ray Morrogh, and Jeff McKay for that matter for Chairman. Fairfax is barrelling down the road to becoming Arlington County and if we want a prayer of stopping this we need to think practically and vote tactically.
