What’s politics without a little controversy? Let’s take a closer look at the one that’s erupted to our west.
State Sen. Bill Carrico, R-Grayson, announced on March 5 that he would not be seeking a new term after 18 years in the General Assembly. That news was big enough as is, but it was compounded by the curious timing — Carrico’s announcement came after the deadline for candidates to file for the Republican nomination. By then, Del. Todd Pillion, R-Washington, who had been tipped off by Carrico, had already filed. To everyone’s surprise, so did another candidate who had gotten his own anonymous tip about what was going on. Ken Heath found out Carrico was leaving just 30 minutes before the filing deadline and that the paperwork to seek the nomination had to be filed in person with the party’s district chairman. Heath jumped in his car and sped to the chairman’s home, getting his paperwork in with just two minutes to spare.
It’s a good thing for Heath, who’s from Marion, that he lived so close to the district chairman. This is a district that stretches from Wythe County to Lee County. There are lots of places that would have simply been too far away — from the eastern end in Fries to the western at the Cumberland Gap, it’s a 3½ hour drive, and that’s assuming you don’t get behind a tractor on U.S. 58.
To some — well, pretty much everyone — this sure looked like Carrico was trying to game the system to hand-pick his successor. That wouldn’t be that much of an issue if this were a competitive district. Republicans who might have otherwise sought the nomination might be upset, but the general populace at large would still have a choice in November. However, this isn’t a competitive district. Over the past decade, the worst Republican performance in a statewide election in that district was 66 percent. The average has been 73 percent. In the past four elections, the average GOP performance has been 77.5 percent. This already-Republican district is becoming even more Republican. Maybe there will be a Democratic candidate in the fall but it won’t matter; the Republican nomination is all that matters. And it’s not even a primary, open to all voters. The nomination will be decided in a party mass meeting on April 25. A relative handful of people will decide, in effect, who will be the next state senator. This is what happens when you have what amounts to one-party rule. There is less democracy happening here than there was under the old Byrd Machine, which controlled the Virginia Democratic Party for many decades. The Byrd Machine at least held primaries — although the electorate was…
