The chairman of the Hanover County Republican Committee has asked departing Del. Chris Peace to disavow a “very public write-in campaign” allegedly being run by Peace supporters disillusioned by the incumbent’s primary loss earlier this year.
In a public Facebook post Thursday night, Hanover GOP Chairman Nick Collette said Peace is obligated to support Republican nominee Scott Wyatt, who ousted Peace in a bitter nomination fight in the spring. Collette threatened to remove Peace from the committee if he failed to “officially denounce” a write-in effort.
Peace declined to do so. In a brief letter sent to Collette on Friday, Peace said only: “I am not nor will I be a candidate for election in the November 5, 2019 general election.”
In an interview Friday afternoon, Peace said he’s not encouraging or discouraging any write-in campaign. He said his constituents are free to vote their conscience.
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“From what I can tell, what he’s trying to do is curtail people’s freedom of expression and freedom of association,” Peace said of Collette. “These Virginians, these people in our district, they can do what they want to do.”
Collette seemed unsatisfied with Peace’s response, but said he would have to consult party rules to determine how to proceed.
“That is definitely not a denouncement,” Collette said.
The dispute suggests bad blood is lingering in the Hanover-based House of Delegates district that Peace, an attorney, has represented since 2006. Wyatt, a member of the Hanover Board of Supervisors, challenged Peace from the right, channeling conservative anger over Peace’s 2018 vote in support of Medicaid expansion.
A factional dispute that broke out among local Republican committees left both Peace and Wyatt declaring victory after two separate electoral processes. The Republican Party of Virginia’s State Central Committee eventually sided with Wyatt, ruling that Wyatt was the legitimate winner of a May 4 nominating convention even though RPV Chairman Jack Wilson had previously said it was “not a party-sanctioned election.”
In another recent Facebook post, Collette said Ashley Peace, Chris Peace’s wife, had been automatically removed from the Hanover GOP committee because of a social media post in which she said she planned to write in her husband’s name. Under RPV rules, committee members are “deemed to have resigned” for making public comments supporting a candidate “in opposition” to a Republican nominee.
Peace called the treatment of his wife “a little less than genteel,” saying no one contacted her about her comments before Collette’s Facebook post saying she was no longer on the committee.
“I’m sorry that my wife still supports me,” Peace said. “We have a good marriage.”
Peace said he’s not concerned a Republican split in the strongly conservative district could be enough to sink Wyatt and throw the race to Democrat Kevin Washington.
“He was selected as the nominee,” Peace said of Wyatt. “And now it is his time to prove it. That’s why I’m staying out of the way.”
Wyatt said he, too, was unconcerned about potential write-in votes affecting the outcome, but said he was aware of Collette’s Facebook post.
“I know the GOP unit is actively trying to encourage everyone to support all Republican candidates,” Wyatt said.
Collette said he’s confident Wyatt will win, despite the potential write-in votes.
“We are united,” Collette said. “And Chris’ actions are not going to undo that.”