The election to select the next Senator from the 8th District may be scheduled for January 12, but the real election will take place tomorrow, December 5. With no Democratic candidate, the voters in the 8th will choose their representative in a Republican canvass. I’m urging everyone – Republican and Democrat alike – to head to the canvassing locations and vote for Rosemary Wilson.
Whenever a representative of the people is chosen, we hope to get someone who represents all of the people in the district, not just part of them – or even the majority of them. We hope to chose someone who will listen to all of them and act accordingly. Wilson has done so, something that even The Virginian-Pilot admitted although they endorsed her opponent.
Rosemary Wilson, a former School Board member who was re-elected last year to her third term on the City Council, is a lifelong resident of Virginia Beach whose knowledge of the city and its issues is unmatched. A Realtor and former teacher, she’s been a voice for good government, an advocate for the Navy and a leader on affordable housing, historic preservation, parks and open space – initiatives this page has supported. She’s voted to spend beyond basic services on projects such as the convention center and on public-private partnerships, including Town Center and the amphitheater.
Make no mistake: Wilson is a Republican. But I think she’s actually closer to the type of Republican that she is seeking to replace – Ken Stolle – than her opponent is. Wilson has the tools and the experience to be an effective legislator and will hit the ground running.
So head on out and vote. The canvass locations are below (click to enlarge). Polls are open from 10am-3pm.
VIVIAN J. PAIGE | All Politics is Local 
It is ridiculous that in an area so rich in talent that neither the Democrats, the Libertarians, nor the Constitution parties, could find anyone to provide opposition in the Eighth District special election.
I hope that someone who lives in the Eighth will read this and go to the State Board of Elections website, under Candidate Bulletins, and file the forms so that the citizens can have a choice in the Special Election to be held on January 12, 2010.
(Go to: http://www.sbe.virginia.gov/cms/documents/Cidates/Bulletins/2010Jan_SE_SEN_Dst0837.pdf )
Really?
I like rosemary much better than any random you’d throw at her.
This “area” may be rich in talent, but we are talking about Virginia Beach, so lets be honest, you gotta’ take what you get!
Is there any rhyme or reason to Virginia Beach politics? I view VB politics, much like the college biology experiments, where you touch a nerve in the frogs brain and it kicks one of its legs. Stimulus, reaction, but no thought, planning or reason behind it.
Right on the money there, T.W.! Great analogy… I’ll have to remember that one. I’ve always thought about it as being one big crap shoot.
I recall a time when Democrats were absolutely convinced that winning the Senate here in Virginia was UNTHINKABLE.
Along came Warner, then Webb. Both men gave the citizens a positive vision of the future and relief from the ongoing xenophobic rants or the Republican leadership. Thousands who previously voted Republican, showed that they would vote for a Democrat who talked about REAL SOLUTIONS and provided a positive vision of the future.
This special election could be won with a few thousand votes and on a budget typical of most student government races. You only need 250 signatures to get on the ballot for heaven’s sake, yet local Democrats can’t find anyone to stand up?
Even if you are sure you can’t win, there should ALWAYS be an opposition voice to force the fascist Republicans to answer tough questions. The PRESS sure as Hell won’t put any pressure on the politicians, anymore.
I want someone to raise real issues and challenge the Republican corruption, especially with regard to McDonnell’s plan to sell off operating rights to Virginia assets, such as the Port of Virginia and our roads, to Communist Chinese owned operating companies.
I want to hear candidates talk about:
How they will ENHANCE our LIBERTY.
How they will promote local job growth and the restoration of domestic manufacturing.
How they will act to create an energy independent future for our citizens.
How shall they act to end the current trends of “political correctness” and special rights for “protected classes” of our citizens, thereby restoring equal treatment under the law.
How we can restore government FOR the people and end the Bush legacy of government ON the people.
How about asking Hank Howell to run? Doesn’t he live in the Eighth?
Hardly. You can’t do TV and radio on that kind of budget. Wait til the finance reports come out – I’m betting McWaters spends over $1 million. And we have no idea at this point where that money is coming from.
I don’t think there is any question “where” the money is coming from. Same place it always comes from in Virginia Beach! Face it, Virginia has become a laughing stock in the arena of campaign oversight. Lax regulations, even laxer regulators, and no accountability! And sadly, ever with federal investigators coming in (Hamilton) it doesn’t appear that anything of substance is going to be done. Any talk of “campaign finance reform” is just that, TALK!
“the fascist Republicans”
Mr. Ballance has been eliminated from the game.
South Central: A voice in support of corrupt corporate politics?
Just for your edification SC, when a party leadership actively ignores our Constitution (domestic spying, torture, imprisonment of citizens without trial) while doing the bidding of multinational corporations who are shipping our strategic manufacturing base off to China just as fast as they can, such a party can no longer make a legitimate claim to representing the interests of the American people. The Republican Party has dwindled to a fascist, xenophobic group that has shown that they will do ANYTHING to stay in power.
While a few good citizens still claim affiliation with the Republicans, they are just those who have yet to recognize the truth behind their party’s rhetoric.
Watch as the Republicans try time and again to sell off our assets, while shipping our jobs off to China.
That would be SouthSIDECentral, sir.
As to the rest of your diatribe, all I can do is point at it and say “Your honor, the plaintiff rests.”
For dramatic flourish, I might add a “Ta-Da!” towards the jury just for fun.
Whatever, guys. Wilson lost BADLY, and the dems won’t even bother to put up a candidate.
Actually, Mouse, the Dems have put up a candidate.
Perhaps you should put an UPDATE at the bottom of the post. I was just taking your word for it.
It just happened at the last minute.