On Monday, we announced that we were changing policy and would consider making endorsements in 2007 Virginia Democratic primary races. Today, we are announcing the first race we are considering:
Johnny Joannou vs. Henry Light in the 79th House of Delegates district (parts of Chesapeake, Norfolk, Portsmouth, and Suffolk).
According to Not Larry Sabato:
This is a Democratic district we currently have rated as "Safe Democratic" that voted for Kerry/Kaine/Byrne/Deeds/Webb. The winner of this primary will have the seat in November.[...]
...Johnny is very popular in Portsmouth, but the votes against Warner and Kaine will be a good point to make with primary voters. This is a classic case of Richmond insiders who claimed Johnny was voting against his district for years and called on someone to primary him. Well, the challenger is here and the primary is less than 100 days away, so we will see soon whether Henry's issues or Johnny's personality wins over voters this year.
In sum, this is a solid "blue" district where the winner of the Democratic primary is 99% certain to be elected this November. Joannou is the incumbent (since January 1998). Light is the challenger who says he is "a real Democrat who will stand up for our party's principles."
We hope to hear from both candidates over the next 10 days. Live blogging is welcome. Community voting will be on days 8 and 9. This should be interesting!
All you have to do is visit Light's website. Or you can visit the conservative Tidewater Libertarian's website at tidewaterlp.com and see all the nice things they have to say about Del. Joannou.
He is a DINO!
Thanks.
And I support Light.
Both Light and Joannou aren't your "common liberal Democrat." And I respect Joannou's ability to stay independent of the party leadership. But he is swing further and further away to the right. Again, I normally don't mind this, but he's been a major thorn in Kaine's transportation program. If we really want to give Kaine a shot, we need Light voting with Kaine rather than Joannou voting against.
Not in session, not while in Portsmouth. He proudly doesn't know how to use a computer. He has his constituents contact him through phone calls.
What I don't respect is Ds and Rs who score political points, raising their own profiles by actively working against the goals of their own parties. That's why I can respect the likes of Ben Nelson and Brad Ellsworth, but not have respect for people like Joe Lieberman.
Johnny Joannou, from everything I know and everything I've heard, has been a Democrat who has actively fought against the Democratic Party. This isn't a matter of excluding a politician for his principles and beliefs, it's a matter of not supporting someone who has actively worked to undermine the party's strength and goals. Henry Light, from his website, seems like a moderate Democrat who may not always agree with his party, but won't work to undermine it.
Granted I am not from the Portsmouth area, but I just wanted to share my opinion on these sorts of matters in general.
It's too soon to tell if Light would definitely be an improvement, but he couldn't possibly be any worse. Absent learning something to persuade me otherwise, he'll definitely get my vote in the primary.
Oh, and there are lots of other reasons to oppose Little Johnny, but I'll only mention one more: In 2007, who the hell is so arrogant as to avoid e-mail? He seems to enjoy parading his Neanderthal-ness by forcing constituents to call him (long distance when the GA's in session).
Damn Little Johnny!
I'm ready to cast my vote now.
We don't need people like him in the caucus. Go Henry!!