One of the hardest-fought campaigns in the race for the next General Assembly has already been fought as incumbent Del. Chris Peace, R-Hanover, lost his bid for his party’s nomination.
Instead, Hanover County supervisor Scott Wyatt, who entered the race in part because he disagreed with Peace’s support for Medicaid expansion last year, will face Democrat Kevin Washington, a New Kent IT specialist who is making his first run for elected office.
Wyatt was certified as the GOP candidate after the state party central committee decided in June to end a long, bitter nomination battle.
The district’s GOP committee had decided on a convention to select a nominee. But when Wyatt won a majority at the mass meeting to select convention delegates from the largest county in the district — Hanover — while Peace won majorities in the district’s two smaller counties, the district committee decided to change the nomination process.
It called for a firehouse primary. But the convention went on anyway, which Wyatt won. Peace won the firehouse primary.
Eventually, the dispute worked its way up to the state GOP’s central committee, which ruled a district committee couldn’t change the nomination method once the process was under way.
“The Commonwealth is at a crossroads,” Wyatt said. “We need to continue on the path of fiscal responsibility the Republican-led General Assembly has been following. This has led to Virginia promoting policies that help our families, grow our economy, strengthen our public schools, and be a welcoming home to businesses.”
Washington says he wants to push for less-crowded classrooms, universal background checks for gun purchases, a rise in the minimum wage and criminal justice reform.
“The first bill I would work on would be to ratify the ERA,” said Washington. “The equal rights amendment would provide women the same rights under the U.S. Constitution as men. Currently, women are only protected with the right to vote under the U.S. Constitution. It is long overdue and it is time for us to pay women equally, treat women equally, and provide women with equal rights.”
“My top priorities are economic development, education, and public safety and I will pursue legislation advancing those issues. I am also very interested in increasing funding for the number of ID/DD waiver slots in our budget,” Wyatt said, referring to the program that allows people with intellectual or development disabilities to tap Medicaid funds to pay for non-medical services they might need for daily life.
Both candidates say they’d push to expand broadband services in rural Virginia.
Both promise to be accessible and transparent.
The district includes New Kent county and parts of King William and Hanover counties. It is among the most strongly Republican in the state.
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Dave Ress, 757-247-4535, dress@dailypress.com
