Prince William GOP candidates prep for firehouse primary

Turnout for the upcoming Republican “firehouse primary” is expected to be just 1 to 3 percent, meaning only a small slice of Prince William County’s electorate will decide the political fates of three longtime incumbents – including Board of Supervisors Chairman Corey Stewart.

Prince William County Republican Committee Chairman Bill Card said the group is planning for up to 1,500 voters to cast ballots at each of eight polling places set up for the Saturday, April 25 contest.

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But the number could be half that – about 800 -- based on turnout during a similar process that decided the Republican candidate in the 10th District congressional race, U.S. Rep. Barbara Comstock, who was elected last fall.

The result, observers and candidates say, is that the Republican Party’s most committed voters will likely choose candidates for not only board chairman, but also county sheriff, clerk of the circuit court and supervisors for the Coles, Occoquan and Woodbridge districts.

In three of those races – for court clerk, sheriff and Coles District supervisor – there are currently no Democratic or independent candidates. If none throw their hats in the ring before the June general-election filing deadline, the firehouse primary could pick the winners.

Jim O’Connor, president of Equality Prince William, says it’s a tough situation for local voters concerned about gay marriage. Some might want to cast votes against current Circuit Court Clerk Michéle McQuigg, whose lawsuit appealing a Virginia Supreme Court decision delayed marriage equality in Virginia for several months.

But the exclusive nature of the Republican contest – which will require voters to sign “statements of intent,” promising to support Republican candidates in the November general election – will no doubt keep some from the polls, O’Connor said.

“I’m head of the Coles District Democratic Committee,” O’Connor said. “It might be somewhat difficult for me to vote in the firehouse primary.”

For the record, Equality Prince William’s nonprofit status keeps it from taking a political stand in any election, O’Connor said.

Also, McQuigg’s opponent, Austin Haynes, hasn’t made an issue of marriage equality in the race.

Haynes is a Catholic who says he’s personally opposed to gay marriage. He’s choosing instead to talk about increasing efficiency and improving customer service in the clerk’s office.

Haynes said he has no problem with the party choosing to hold a firehouse primary for his race, although he concedes it might make it difficult for some voters to participate.

“You have to remember it’s the Republican Party trying to pick their Republican nominees,” Haynes said. “They have a right to control their process.”

Stewart, Sheriff Glendell Hill and Coles District Supervisor Marty Nohe all went to court last month to try to persuade a judge to allow them to participate in the state-run June primary even though their applications to be on the ballot were rejected by both the state and local electoral boards after local Republican Party officials missed a February filing deadline.

“I was out there fighting for an open and easily understood process,” Nohe said of his efforts to participate in the state-run primary. “But now we’ve been forced into this awkward process. So we’re going to make the best of it.”

Still, Nohe and others said the firehouse primary seems more inclusive than the local Republicans’ past default mode for primaries – daylong candidate nominating conventions.

“These firehouse primaries are an attempt to eliminate the exclusive feel of the convention,” Nohe said. “Conventions absolutely have the impact of making it impossible for big chunks of the population to vote.”

The biggest challenge, Nohe and other candidates said, is getting the word out about the election and polling place locations.

In most cases, people have to go somewhere other than their usual polling places to vote. The county uses 91 polling places for general elections. The firehouse primary will use eight – one for each magisterial district.

“That’s the biggest challenge I’ve seen,” Haynes said. “People are coming around to realizing there’s an election, but they’re confused about where to vote.”

Steve Chapman, who is running for the Republican nominee for Woodbridge supervisor, said he’s concerned voters could be turned off by the “statement of intent.”

“It would be terrible for the party if a bunch of people come in and feel disenfranchised because they have to sign a blood oath to the Republican Party or be turned away,” Chapman said. “That’s un-American.”

But Nohe said he doesn’t feel that way. “My message to voters is, well, gosh, if you’re willing to vote for me in the primary, I hope you’re willing to vote for me in November.”