Incumbent Republican Senator Fred Quayle and challenger Richard Ramsey got a chance to woo voters in that district in a pair of op eds that appeared in today’s Virginian Pilot.
Quayle, who has been in the Senate since 1992, took the opportunity to lay out his record:
Virginia has led the country in many areas during my tenure. In 2005, Virginia was selected as the best-managed state in the country by Governing magazine. I am a part of the Republican majority in the Assembly and a member of the Senate Finance Committee that is largely responsible for that accomplishment.
This isn’t the first claim I’ve seen by Republicans that they are responsible for the Commonwealth being named the best-managed state. But that’s a post for another day.
I have used this seniority and my bipartisan relationships in the General Assembly to pass legislation important to our district.
And it is because of these bipartisan relationships that the Senator has a challenger. Quayle is considered by some to be a RINO. Enter conservative challenger Richard Ramsey.
As a conservative Republican, my duty and responsibility require that I act to protect the sovereignty of the people as the basis and foundation of government. Personal property is sovereignty that secures that foundation. Excessive taxation on property expropriates sovereignty.
This is not Ramsey’s first run for office. He’s been running for 20 years. Ramsey focuses on the regional transportation authority and does not mention any other reason for folks to vote for him.
The winner of this primary will square off against the winner of the Democratic primary, Steve Heretick or David Bouchard, in the fall. The op eds in that race were the first to be published.
Technorati Tags: Fred Quayle, Richard Ramsey
VIVIAN J. PAIGE | All Politics is Local 
You may think it’s a post for another day, but I want to ask: since he’s been around during several gubernatorial administrations, would Senator Quayle also like to claim to be “largely responsible” for the financial crisis the Commonwealth faced towards the end of Governor Gilmore’s term?
It might be a smart move on his part to play that card; I can give full credit due to Warner and Kaine, but Ramsey can’t compliment Democrat governors during a Republican primary and he’s therefore left to concede the point. That doesn’t negate the fact that Quayle is a total tool.
If Quayle were the only Republican saying it – and if it were simply for the benefit of primary voters – I’d understand it. But then we have Rerras making the same claim.
Yeah but Rerras is too cynical about the intelligence level of feminazi voters like yourself to think that he needs to be bothered with petty details and accuracy. Is it any surprise that he’s once again underestimating his constituents?