Congressional District Newsletter 4/27/2010

This week we move to the East Coast and Virginia's 2nd congressional district, a district that crosses the Chesapeake Bay on the Eastern Coast of Virginia. This November a freshman Democrat, Glenn Nye, faces a tough challenger in a local Car Dealership owner, Scot Rigell.










Virginia’s 2nd Congressional District

District Background (taken directly from CQPolitics)

Taking in the state’s Atlantic coastline, the 2nd is dominated by Virginia Beach, a center for white-collar military families and retirees. The district takes in parts of Norfolk and Hampton and crosses the Chesapeake Bay inlet to Virginia’s Eastern Shore.

Growth in Virginia Beach slowed in the wake of military base closings and a national recession. The 2005 BRAC round ordered Fort Monroe, in Hampton, closed by 2011, but increases at the 2nd’s other bases and commercial development at Fort Monroe may mean the 2nd will avoid job losses. The 2nd also includes half of largely blue-collar and Democratic-leaning Norfolk (shared with the 3rd). Its naval base, shipbuilding and shipping drive the economy.

Any conservatism here stems more from military and economic issues than from social questions, and the 2nd has followed the growing Democratic trend in Virginia. Barack Obama won the 2008 presidential race here with 50 percent of the vote.

Major Industry
Military, tourism, shipbuilding

Military Bases
Naval Station Norfolk, 51,413 military, 1,975 civilian (2008); Naval Air Station Oceana, 12,000 military, 2,500 civilian; Langley Air Force Base, 7,948 military, 2,100 civilian (2008); Naval Amphibious Base Little Creek, 7,700 military, 1,815 civilian; Naval Air Station Oceana Dam Neck Annex, 3,600 military, 1,300 civilian (2005); Fort Monroe (Army), 1,250 military, 1,680 civilian (2009); Fort Story (Army), 842 military, 71 civilian (2008)

Cities
Virginia Beach, 425,257; Norfolk (pt.), 112,102; Hampton (pt.), 54,753



Electoral History & the 2010 Elections (taken directly from CQPolitics)

Glenn Nye (D), one of three Democrats to win GOP-held seats in Virginia in 2008, will have a tough time holding on in 2010. He’s young and smart and will not be outworked. Still, his job may be even harder than was anticipated several months ago.

The Republicans have a crowded field of contenders who want to take Nye on. Drake, the congresswoman whom Nye ousted last cycle, is not running again, but has thrown her support to Scott Rigell, the wealthy owner of a local car dealership.

Now, with Rigell emerging as clear favorite among Republican candidates, Nye’s re-election bid increasingly bears the marks of a very competitive contest.

As Nye and his party shift to playing defense in a historically challenging midterm election year, CQ Politics changed the race rating for the 2nd District race in early April to Tossup from Leans Democratic. This rating change had been held back because the June 8 Republican primary was so crowded, with six candidates vying. But the general election contest bodes as competitive whoever wins the Republican nomination.

Rigell is the preferred candidate of the National Republican Congressional Committee, the House GOP’s campaign arm. He has the personal and campaign resources and other political assets to run a very competitive race against Nye.

Also competing for the GOP nomination are Ed Maulbeck, a businessman and retired Navy SEAL; Scott Taylor, another retired Navy SEAL; Naval Reserve Capt. Ben Loyola; and editor Jessica Sandlin.

Nye has represented the area in and around Virginia Beach only since 2009. He won the seat by defeating Drake by 5 percentage points in an ideal political year for Democrats.
Democrats have a much less favorable environment to run in this year, and their task is made more difficult because there is no presidential race to entice voters to polls and no big statewide race — neither U.S. senator is up for election in 2010, and Virginia elected its governor in 2009.
In Nye’s district, the House race will top the ballot, and turnout can be expected to be a lot closer to the 2006 level of 173,000 than to the 2008 level of 271,000.

Nye actually received a slightly larger share of the vote than Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama, who edged Republican John McCain in the district by 50 percent to 48 percent. And he does have some major political assets.

Like many of his junior colleagues from politically competitive districts, including freshman Reps. Tom Perriello of Virginia’s 5th and Gerry Connolly of Virginia’s 11th, Nye is well-funded and will not be caught off-guard in the fall campaign.

And it will be difficult for Republicans to portray him as a lockstep adherent of Democratic leaders because his voting record is among the least liberal in the House Democratic Caucus. He voted for the economic stimulus law but bucked his party on the cap-and-trade climate change bill and a Democratic-written health care bill President Obama recently signed into law.

One Republican challenging Nye has opted to run as an independent candidate. Kenny Golden, a former chairman of the Republican Party organization in Virginia Beach, said in a video April 9 on his Facebook page that he is concerned “this primary has already been decided, and it was decided a good while ago.”

Golden was referring to support Rigell has received for his campaign from the NRCC and some GOP luminaries in southeastern Virginia.[2]

The Candidates

For the Democratic Nomination:
· Glenn Nye (D) – Nye grew up in Norfolk and graduated from Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service. He was a Foreign Service officer and served in Afghanistan, Kosovo, and Iraq. He is currently the Chairman of the House Small Businesses Subcommittee on Contracting and Technology.[3]

For the GOP Nomination:
· Scott Rigell (R) – Rigell grew up on Virginia Beach and served in the United States Marine Corps Reserve and graduated with an MBA from Regent University in Virginia. He has been very involved in many community organizations.[4]
· Ed Maulbeck (R) – Maulbeck worked as a carpenter for a few years before enlisting in the armed services, and excelled as a Navy SEAL. He went on to serve the military until he sustained an injury that eventually led to his retirement.[5]
· Scott Taylor (R) – Taylor became a U.S. Navy SEAL at the age of 19 and served for eight years. He owns a real estate brokerage company, a fitness center, and a security consulting firm.[6]
· Ben Loyola (R) – Loyola was born in the United States to a father who mutinied against Fidel Castro’s takeover in Cuba. He served in the U.S. Navy, founded his own engineering service contracting firm, and has been involved in community organizations.[7]
· Jessica Sandlin (R) – Sandlin was born and grew up in Northern Virginia, and graduated from James Madison University for English and secondary education. She has worked as a substitute teacher and for the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC).[8]

The Issues

Glenn Nye (D) –
· Tax cuts for small businesses
· Veterans’ rights[9]

Scott Rigell (R) –
· Veterans – Servicemen and women should have access to technology, training, weapons, support and equipment, and veterans should have solid benefits.[10]
· Job Creation – The government should not be bailing out financial institutions. Small businesses should be a priority and benefit from lower taxes and regulation.[11]

Ed Maulbeck (R) –
· Economy – The government should not spend money it doesn’t have, and then work to repay its debts. The administration should not be socializing the economy.[12]
· Unemployment – Illegal immigration is causing a lot of problems for small businesses. The government needs to focus on creating jobs.[13]

Scott Taylor (R) –
· Budget & Government Spending – The government “should cut wasteful spending, improve technology for greater efficiency, reform huge entitlements, and ensure that we fully fund our priorities in national defense.”[14]
· Jobs & Economy – The government should keep taxes low for businesses, keep regulation limited, and offer tax cuts for small businesses.[15]

Ben Loyola (R) –
· Jobs & Economy – “Taxes must be decreased or eliminated, the burden must be lessened, and the red tape must be cut in order for business and our workers to operate freely.” The market must be kept free from government intrusion.[16]
· Limiting Government – “The federal government needs to focus on national defense and criminal justice rather than placing undue burdens on the American citizens and private industry. We must eliminate the growth of the federal government and scale back the size and scope to constitutionally acceptable levels.”[17]

Jessica Sandlin (R) –
· “Fiscal sanity, a climate for free enterprise, smaller government, renewable energy, healthcare costs, education, immigration, and veteran’s issues.”[18]



[1] “Virginia - 2nd District,” CQ Politics - http://www.cqpolitics.com/wmspage.cfm?docID=district-2010-VA-02
[2] Ibid.
[3] “About,” Vote Glenn Nye for US Congress - http://www.glennnye.com/
[4] “Scott Rigell’s Biography,” Rigell for Congress Campaign - http://www.scottrigell.com/biography/
[5] “Biography,” Ed Maulbeck for Congress - http://www.edmaulbeck.com/biography.html
[6] “About Scott,” Taylor for Congress - http://www.scotttaylorforcongress.com/about/
[7] “About Ben Loyola,” Ben Loyola for Congress - http://www.benloyola.com/about/ben/
[8] “Meet Jessica,” Jessica Sandlin for Congress - http://sandlinforcongress.com/meet-jessica
[9] “About,” Vote Glenn Nye for US Congress - http://www.glennnye.com/
[10] “Veterans,” Rigell for Congress Campaign - http://www.scottrigell.com/topics/?topicId=25
[11] “Job Creation,” Rigell for Congress Campaign - http://www.scottrigell.com/topics/?topicId=15
[12] “Economy,” Ed Maulbeck for Congress - http://www.edmaulbeck.com/economy.html
[13] “Unemployment,” Ed Maulbeck for Congress - http://www.edmaulbeck.com/unemployment.html
[14] “On the Issues,” Taylor for Congress - http://www.scotttaylorforcongress.com/on-the-issues/
[15] Ibid.
[16] “Jobs and the Economy,” Ben Loyola for Congress - http://www.benloyola.com/issues/economy/
[17] “Limiting Government,” Ben Loyola for Congress - http://www.benloyola.com/issues/government/
[18] “Visit HOME,” Jessica Sandlin for Congress - http://sandlinforcongress.com/