I’ve just learned that the 1st Congressional District Democrats have chosen Bill Day to challenge Rob Wittman. This comes just days after Keith Hummel withdrew from the race.
More to come.
UPDATE: Here’s some information on Bill Day.
UPDATE2: Here’s a photo of Day taken last Saturday at Fredericksburg Agricultural Fair’s Democratic Party Booth (with Jahana Porter)
UPDATE3: Fred2Blue has the official announcement
VIVIAN J. PAIGE | All Politics is Local 
I had a chance to talk to Bill Day on many different occasions during the 07 election cycle. This guy is one of a kind and would make a great representative for the 1st Congressional District.
It would have been nice to have a link to his Congressional campaign website, but for now the link to his Delegate campaign will do.
His “Twenty Point Plan” sounds like the Republican talking points, including his championing of pooled health care insurance.
I would prefer candidates who come right out and say that it is time to create a National Health Service that would be the best in the world. We could probably get all of the funds needed for such a program from the petty cash drawer at the Pentagon.
I want to see the health care parasites like Kaiser and Blue Cross permanently out of business and to see Americans free of having to worry that an illness will bankrupt them or their families.
Perhaps Bill Day can champion this cause in his run for the First District. It is ridiculous that our nation can spend TRILLIONS on an undeclared war, yet not find money to provide high quality health care for our citizens.
Congratulations to Suzette Matthews, 1st CD Chair, in rapidly bring forth a quality candidate. It was shrill and hollow that she was disparaged by certain elements in the 1st CD because she did not “vet” the prior candidate.
YOU GO GIRL and the rest of the 1st CD Committee!
Um, he was just chosen! Why would he have a Congressional campaign website?
Bill Day is a very good man. I commend him for stepping forward in this difficult circumstance. It will be tough to put a campaign together on such short notice and so close to election day. I know Bill will do it as well as anyone could.
Congratulations to Suzette Matthews, 1st CD Chair, for so thoroughly vetting this candidate, too!
Last year, it came out during a debate between him and Scott Lingamfelter that Day, “who touts himself as a businessman of 40 years and a licensed counselor in Warrenton is… well… neither. His business license with the town of Warrenton and his license to practice as a counselor through the Commonwealth of VA are both expired. Also, the State Corporation Commission has no record of his two business partnerships that he cites on his Statement of Economic Interest filed with the Clerk of the House of Delegates.”
http://www.bvbl.net/index.php/2007/10/05/william-day-this-dog-not-permitted-to-hunt/
Also, here is another website for him — http://www.voteday.org/
Riley – your comment got hung up in my spam filter.
No problem. Probably because it had two links. Same happens on my site.
As a first time candidate, Day drew about 45% of the vote last year against Lingamfelter. The 31st is a heavily Republican District. He didn’t win, but it is hardly accurate to describe him as a “failed” candidate.
Viv:
Well run campaigns will delay making the announcement until their website is ready to go live. This helps prevent opposition forces from posting misleading sites that confuse voters or plant seeds in the media with false sites like, voteday.org
Already, the lack of a live website for Day’s campaign has allowed his opposition to promote all of the negatives about him from his last run, with only a deafening silence from Day.
Those who were hoping to see some new ideas from Day, will now doubt his credibility because the seeds of doubt about him not actually having the jobs he cited for his previous campaign are in question. Just how does this fellow make a living if he is neither the “counselor” or “businessman” that he has claimed to be? Did he really say that he wanted to abolish the Border Patrol in the last campaign, or was that the typical parsing of sound-bites by the GOP attack squads? Without a live site on the first day of his “announcement” the opposition has gotten the first blows in, before Day even has a web presence.
Why do the Democrats keep running candidates like this? Virginians don’t like these “men of mystery” like Day, with no visible means of support. Surely there must be plenty of returning Veterans who have good job records, are married to a woman, and have a traditional family, who would be happy to pick-up the banner for the Democrats and make a run.
JTB – have you followed what’s been happening in the 1st? If so, then you comments make little sense.
Riley – Yep, that’s the reason. I mentioned it because I didn’t want anyone to think that I was censoring comments 😉
I’d never expect you to do that VJP. You’re the one on the other side of the aisle that I have the greatest respect for here in VA.
JTB, not only did Day want to do away with Border Patrol, he supports Dennis Kucinich’s idea to start a U.S. Dept. of Peace.