This was supposed to be a "liveblog." But when I got there...no wifi :PWhen I arrived in Williamsburg this morning, you could tell you were on Phil Forgit's home turf. There were Forgit signs, t-shirts, balloons, you name it. But as the day wore on, more and more Hontz signs, and supporters, starting lining the streets.
Outside of the convention hall, both Hontz and Forgit delegates soon started inter-mingling to learn about the candidates they were opposing, knowing that at the end of the day they'd have to unite to defeat the Republican nominee next month.
The campaign literature handed out by the candidates took slightly different approaches. The Hontz flyers focused on his stance on key issues. Ted say he wants troops out of Iraq immediately and will focus on creating more jobs in the district. Forgit's handouts were more biographical in nature and focused more on his overall "electability."
When delegates finally took their seats around 2 pm, the obligatory dueling chants started. "Hontz, Hontz, Hontz"...."For-git, For-git, For-git."
2:47 pm, 1st CD Chair Suzette Matthews (who apparently endorsed Forgit before the convention, which doesn't seem very appropriate. Whatever.) calls meeting to order.
2:58 pm, Congressman Bobby Scott gives a speech. He says that if we can elect Jim Webb and John Miller, we can elect a Democrat in the 1st CD.
3:08 pm, Keynote speaker, Sen.-elect John Miller, addresses the convention. To no one's surprise, he received a rousing standing ovation when first introduced.
3:32 pm, It's announced that there are 197 delegates and 39 alternates.
3:50 pm, Hontz is nominated and gives his speech. Says that no where in America is there a district with more at stake than Virginia's 1st when it comes to ending the war in Iraq, due to our high numbers of military families. Bush administration has subverted the rule of law. Imagine what we could do with the $9 billion we've been spending in Iraq every month. Says he is pro-choice. 47 million people without health care, including many veterans, is a disgrace.
4:04 pm, Forgit is nominated and gives his speech. He says the southern part of the district has found the formula for success with Miller and Northam. He says many voters in the 1st consider this a peninsula seat and don't accept candidates from the north, which of course got a few groans from the delegation. Says that he is personally pro-life, but thinks the law should remain as it is (despite rumors to the contrary). Neo-cons are playing a game of Risk or Stratego, but real human blood is being spilled. No Child Left Behind is a failure because the money isn't there. Cleaner fuels and engine technology, tougher emissions standards.
4:19 pm, Voting on the first ballot commences.
4:59 pm, Forgit: 106, Hontz: 91, No Candidate: 0
5:01 pm, Hontz gives a gracious concession speech, thanks his supporters and family for the past 2 weeks. Says the north and south need to unite behind Phil Forgit. (Also, Ted stood up and applauded when Phil was announced the winner.)
5:05 pm, Forgit gives his acceptance speech. There's clearly no hard feelings at all between him and Ted, they both stand united.
5:07 pm, Meeting is adjourned
Final Thoughts: After Forgit's speech, delegates from the north were, well, let's just say... not pleased. The irony here is that Forgit really pushed the whole "electability" argument, yet alienated a good portion of 1st district Dems. I really don't think he meant to insult anyone, but that's not how others took it...and that's a problem.
I also thought, going into this, that the Pollard endorsement might have given the nomination to Hontz. Pollard's without question the most popular politician in the Northern Neck right now, he crushed Stuart not only in his home county, but his home precinct. And sure enough, what gave the victory to Forgit was a split with the Northern Neck delegates.
I think Forgit can win this thing if he unites the Democrats in the 1st, and/or the Republicans nominate Dick Black. Since the latter isn't likely to happen, this election, like all special elections, will be all about turnout.
btw, the D's in Williamsburg did not finish early as Hugh Lessig at The Shad Plank wrote. It actually started late but still lasted the allotted 2 hours. There's a biiiiiig difference between 2 candidates and 11. :)
Hope there weren't too many hard feelings, and that folks from the 'North' decide to work toward this pickup.
As he said, this is the hard political reality and some people choose to take it personally. They even booed and hissed Forgit which was not something one should be proud of.
Too bad! Maybe these are the same people who launched the whisper campaign that Forgit is legislatively pro-life.
I also believe that Forgit is pro-life. Check out http://www.democrats.... He previously ran as a pro-Life candidate and is being pushed by several pro-life groups like the one listed.
Take your ball and go home. Seems like an even better reason for regional redistricting so we don't have to deal with such childish nonsense. We don't need this type of help down here. Good job.
Is it possible Hontz could have done better than Pollard in an even lower turnout election? Maybe.
But Forgit is/was correct -- there is a greater proportion of the voting population in the Williamsburg/Hampton Roads I-64 corridor than in Fredericksburg/Spotsylvania/Stafford.
I will never tell anyone what to do with his/her hard earned money or time, but I hope we can marshall some of the energy and people from the Pollard campaign into turning out the vote in the 28th.
If no, then frankly I have to sort of doubt your commitment to electing Democrats, insensitive remarks or not.
I know that Stafford is working hard to elect Democrats and they could use more help (they really support their BOS candidates). And I think Fauquier Dems too are working very hard to improve the political layout in Fauquier.
For those who were offended, I'd ask them to get over it and work to elect Dems. I can't tell you how many times I've been offended but isn't as important as ELECTING DEMOCRATS!!
But hey, I just want Democrats to win, what do I know?
at the kyoto steakhouse, no democrats there.
A cloudy day
we will take the election
and 2008 the republicans will say bye bye
Its reporting/coverage reflects this despite self-denial of the editor in chief. Consider today's FLS online news headline:(Sunday Nov 11):
"Whittman Wins District Nod" [http://www.frederick...]
I don't suppose there was another candidate's convention somewhere else that may have also provided a candidate...like Williamsburg. (Forgit is mentioned in the story but headline only readers wouldn't know it)
The Washington Post and the Richmond Times Dispatch provide very limited coverage to the region (major traffic incident or crime report) and the FLS is hopelessly biased.
Forgit needs to get cracking and expect "tough going" for media support/coverage in the northern region of the District.
Etc, etc.
Those are a wee bit more important to me than whether someone's feelings are bruised because a candidate said a few things that could possibly (if you try hard enough) be taken as a slight dig at one particular section of the congressional district. Again, let's weigh that against:
*Iraq
*Iran
*Global warming
*Stem cell research
*A woman's right to choose
*Civil liberties
*SCHIP
Now, can we please get to work elected Phil Forgit?!?
What does that make you besides bitter?
I'm from the South part of the District, I saw it, and the North has a right to be pissed.
That said, I hope they get over it. Forgit is a great candidate (as Ted Hontz would have been.)
I would say that people who keep this up are actively trying to sabatoge the race. No one has to offer their time and effort if they don't want to. But actively running down our nominated candidate reflects more on the speaker than the candidate.
Is a comment on a blog part of a conversation (in the heat of the moment) or part of a public campaign. If all it is, is one comment, I would give the speaker the benefit of the doubt.
But actions tell. Yard signs? Letters to the editor? Continued mud-slinging?
It's time to support our candidate.
Dear Friends and Supporters:I want to thank you all for the tremendous support you gave in Williamsburg Saturday and over the course of the past two weeks. With an incredibly short period of time to prepare our first run at elective office, we put together a strong campaign and ran a highly competitive race. We stuck to our principles and sent a positive message of unity and hope.
I am encouraged by the success of Democrats statewide and in the First District. And I am especially proud to see two new Democrats elected to the Stafford County Board of Supervisors. We know many of you were already fully engaged in the Nov. 6 elections when we jumped into this race. And yet you went the extra mile to support our campaign. I am humbled and proud to be associated with all of you.
One of my goals in this effort was to remain positive throughout and to make many new friends and no new enemies. I think we accomplished that goal. As I said Saturday night, "This is all good."
Sincerely,
Ted Hontz
Secondly, seating delegates at conventions, without first being an alternate, happens when there is nothing controversial before the convention. Usually the nominees will be decided by primary, or the office isn't contested in those cases.
Thirdly, an alternative delegate being elevated was required if possible, to be committed to the same nominee as the delegate they were replacing. There were 197 out of 200 possible delegates, so most of the delegations were full. If Prince William had elected Hontz delegates at their caucus, they wouldn't even have had to come to Williamsburg. They could have been replaced by Hontz alternates from other jurisdictions.
Your argument that the convention was stacked is simply wrong--and damaging.
It's time to come together behind our nominated candidate.
I *know* that the Prince William delegation chair filled
out with at least several alternates committed to Hontz
(he took both of my alternates, who were both Hontz).
Requiring that empty delegate seats be filled first from
elected alternates was a disappointment for some folks, but
was according to the rules.
I think the nomination was fairly done, although I was
not pleased with Phil's speech, which I found needlessly
divisive: Phil's acceptance speech noted accurately that
he couldn't win the seat without the support of the North.
I will be supporting Phil, and urge all CD1 Democrats
to support him.
Tres Seaver.
You are right on both counts--the speech and the filling of seats.
November 11, 2007To the members of the Stafford County Virginia Democratic Committee, and the Stafford County Delegation to the First District Democratic Party Convention:
I want to thank you all for your hard work, and sacrifice, to elect Democrats on Election Day, November 6, and for participating as delegates and alternates at the First District Democratic Convention in Williamsburg.
As to the latter, those of us that supported Stafford County's own Ted Hontz for Congress should be proud of the classy, unifying campaign he ran. Ted fell just 8 votes short of the Democratic Party nomination. But now, he enthusiastically supports our Democratic Party nominee, Phil Forgit.
Let's all get behind Phil Forgit and his run for "America's First District" seat in Congress.
Phil is a decorated Iraq War vet, and a gifted and nationally recognized public school teacher. Congressional races were never meant to be run in 30 days, but Phil is up to the task.
Further, we now know that Phil will be opposing Republican Rob Wittman of Westmoreland County. That makes the race quite challenging, thus, Phil will need all the assistance that he can muster.
To learn more, please see the Forgit campaign's website at www.forgit2007.com. You may also contact Jennifer Tierney at jen@forgit2007.com.
NOTE: I have alerted the Forgit campaign that our next meeting of the Stafford County Virginia Democratic Committee is this Saturday, November 17 at 9:30AM. And I am hopeful that Phil or a senior member of his campaign staff will clear schedules to meet us.
Thanks, again, for all you have done, and continue to do!
Warmest Regards,
Dan Smolen
Chair - Stafford County Virginia Democratic Committee
www.stafforddemocrats.org
Can anyone explain why a known Democratic Pro-Life organization is supporting Forgit if he is really Pro-Choice as he said at the Convention?
Free Lance Star = Wittman + Sanitation!
Does anyone think Warner and Webb will campaign with Forgit?
You are still trashing our candidate. I take it you hope he will lose.
Abortion litmus tests are for the other party. I have become ardently pro-choice, but I don't see how it helps the Democratid Party to exclude those with other personal feelings on the issue if they pledge to uphold the federal law as it currently stands.
I see you made a positive comment in another post.
To quote a famous Republican.
You can choose not to support Philip Forgit, but know that every time you and the stranger in line at the bank or grocery store find that common bond over discontent with the current state of our government and you get that warm feeling in your heart that maybe people understand and agree with you and maybe there is still hope out there that the war will end and the earth won't melt, that given the chance to pick your nose and make the world a better place, instead you opted to do nothing and let the booger of Republicanism hang awkwardly over your upper lip.
I did think that Hontz ran a respectable campaign, but in the end, I voted for Forgit because I believe that he is more electable, but this was only AFTER his speech--the same speech that offended so many "Democrats" into not voting. The candidate in this campaign and many others to come are going to be attacked by Republicans and I believe that we need to have someone who is willing to come right out and say what they believe. Both Hontz and Forgit did this with stances on Iraq and abortion. And thank you for pointing out earlier that even our own governor is personally against the death penalty, but will support it as law.
As for seating alternates and Ms. Mathews' stance. If northern Prince William had really wanted Mr. Hontz to receive the nomination, I think they would have tried to send more than just one person to the convention. That really is sad because that probably turned the whole tide of the voting. Also, registration for delegates and alternates was supposed to close at one o'clock, but some northern counties did not show up until 12:45 or even after the deadline. This is the reason that many Hontz signs and supporters did not show up until right before the convention started. Now, there is absolutely no way that Suzette Mathews could have stacked the convention. If one will remember that right before the vote totals were read, the poor lady wanted to tell the convention how many pre-determined votes there were at the beginning (she received boos and hisses for wanting to announce this) and those pre-determined votes were something like: 50 Hontz, 58 Forgit, and 89 undecided. The undecided votes were obviously made up after these people had gotten a chance to read the material, meet with the candidates, and talk with other people there. As for Ms. Mathews, during all of the meet-and-greet sessions, she was hurrying around trying to make sure that everybody had what they needed, that people were getting registered, that the seating was right, and essentially that the convention would run smoothly. I talked to her for about 10 seconds before she was called to check on something else, so no, I don't believe she had ANY time to influence or sway others into voting for Forgit. Also, the look on her face when he was announced the winner was almost one of utter disappointment and sickness, if one will remember.
The point of all of this is just stop bickering. I liked Ted Hontz, but I happend to like Phil Forgit just slightly better. Had Hontz won, I would have stood behind him 100 percent, and I had hoped that any good Democrat would. And as an 18-year-old who just had my first voting experience on November 6 of this year, this intra-party fighting over the fact that there are two distinct parts of the First CD does not bode well for future generations of voters looking to avoid the petty controversies that is party politics today.