Run for office? You’re fired!

Posted by Vivian J. Paige ⋅ Tuesday, March 17, 2009 ⋅ 7 Comments

A 27-year-old prosecutor in Portsmouth said he was fired because he plans to challenge incumbent Harvey Bryant for Virginia Beach commonwealth’s attorney.

If anyone doubts that Byrd machine is alive and well, look no further than Hampton Roads. The area is littered with the corpses of folks who dared to challenge the status quo. In this case, the excuse given is that the young man, Mark C. Hardman, couldn’t “divide his time responsibly between campaigning and doing his job in Portsmouth.”

Almost every candidate who runs for office does so while holding a job. Unless one is wealthy, there is no alternative. So to think that he couldn’t do both – when almost everyone does – is just blowing smoke.

Oh, well. I guess they could had said worse and damaged this young man more.

About Vivian J. Paige

A former candidate, I've learned a lot about politics, both good and bad. I'd prefer more of the former and a lot less of the latter and I'm trying to do my part!

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Discussion

7 Responses to “Run for office? You’re fired!”

A bit heavy-handed no doubt, but it’s a bit unusual for an Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney to run against their boss while still working in the office, no ?

Although there are times when I wonder why we vote for CA to begin with.

Posted by Doug Mataconis | Tuesday, March 17, 2009, 10:58 am
- You misread it. The guy works in Portsmouth and will be running in Virginia Beach, so he’s not running against his boss.
  
  Posted by vjp | Tuesday, March 17, 2009, 1:44 pm
  - Ok, my mistake…..
    
    As they once said on SNL…….never mind
    
    Posted by Doug Mataconis | Thursday, March 19, 2009, 7:07 am
    - Threaded comments? Excellent.
      
      Posted by MB | Thursday, March 19, 2009, 9:34 am
      - Yeah. But still working on the styling.
        
        Posted by vjp | Thursday, March 19, 2009, 9:56 am
Welcome to politics! In or out of elected office, if you have been active in politics it has affected us all, in relationships, in work, etc. If it hasn’t you, then consider yourself lucky!

Posted by silver donkey | Tuesday, March 17, 2009, 2:59 pm
In a way Mataconis nailed it through his error. The guy is running against a Beach Republican, and so the Republican CA in Portsmouth canned him. Or at least, that’s the appearance.

You’d think the GOP would still feel secure enough in their stronghold not to kneecap this guy so blatantly.

Posted by anon | Tuesday, March 17, 2009, 5:55 pm