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Griffith Endorses Cox; Republicans Chomping At The Bit To Run Against McAuliffe

Rep. Morgan Griffith brings Cox to over 500 local and state endorsements in what is shaping to be a nomination path with sharp elbows.

Shaun Kenney

Mar 10

First and foremost, I made the error of accidentally promoting Fairfax GOP chairman Steve Knotts and Prince William GOP chairman Tim Parrish as chairman of one another’s respective unit committees in yesterday’s missive — what we might call an “own goal” in soccer parlance.

Almost three dozen faithful TRS readers were kind enough to point out my transgressions. Mea culpa, mea culpa… but good work, team!

Quick on the heels of Del. Lee Ware’s (R-Powhatan) endorsement of Pete Snyder comes another massive endorsement — that being Rep. Morgan Griffith (R-VA) endorsing former House Speaker Kirk Cox who seems to be reveling in an embarrassment of riches when it comes to local and state endorsements.

As in, well over 500 endorsements. From our write-up on TRS:

Congressman Morgan Griffith is a massive pick up for the Cox for Governor team, but he isn’t alone in Kirk Cox’s expansive corner of support. Joining the Southwest champion is over 500 conservative elected and grassroots leaders. Among this long list are former Virginia Governor’s George Allen and Bob McDonnell, Congressman Tom Davis and State Senator Jeannemarie Davis, State Senator Bill Carrico, Congressman Randy Forbes and Shirley Forbes, and Bobbie Kilberg.

If the running joke within Republican circles is that the Synder campaign is akin to Thanos collecting the soul stones, then the Cox campaign with their local and state elected support is akin to the Avengers assembling.

Oh snap.

Times like these are good moments to remind ourselves that for all the elbows we are about to see thrown, there is actually a remarkable degree of agreement among most of the candidates on a variety of issues. Consider:

PRO-LIFE: What was once a contentious issue among Republicans is pretty settled. Every human person has the basic right to exist — PERIOD. There’s not even debate on this question in the Republican Party at present. All four frontrunners — Chase, Cox, Snyder, and Youngkin — are indicating to voters that they are pro-life and decidedly so. The question only remains as to how central their commitment will be to defund that relic of the eugenics era at Planned Parenthood from all taxpayer resources.
PRO-2A: If you wouldn’t tolerate the restrictions on your 1A rights, do not tolerate the restrictions on your 2A rights. ‘Nuff said.
PRO-1A: This has to be one of the more shocking developments of the last 5 years where things such as religious freedom, free speech, and the right of free assembly have to be defended in the United States of America of all places — yet here we are.
GENDER IDEOLOGY: Once again, not only is there not much support for gender dysphorias being treated as the new normal, but the vast majority of the public is right there with the Republican Party.
OPEN THE SCHOOLS: Personally I’d prefer to see an active state voucher program instead of cramming kids back into government schools, but the fact of the matter is that if private and parochial schools can do it successfully, why can’t public education do likewise?
PAROLE BOARD INVESTIGATIONS: State Senator Mark Obenshain and Minority Leader Todd Gilbert have both been hammering this one for months, with Kirk Cox and other leaders pounding the table for answers. If you don’t know what this one is all about, click here.
COVID VACCINE ROLLOUT: Northam owns this one. No matter who you are, it has been terrible from day one and everyone knows it.
FULLY FUNDING OUR LAW ENFORCEMENT: Let’s face it — “Defund The Police” is a loser and nearly cost Democrats several key races last year. Naturally, the Democrats really haven’t budged on whether or not they want to defund the police; they just aren’t talking about it like they used to.
DEFENDING VIRGINIA’S HISTORY: A recent Fox News poll showed that 63 percent of Americans see America’s Founders as heroes, with only 15 percent saying they were villains. Restoring our monuments and defending Virginia’s virtue in history as something more than the sum of our vices? Everyone is on board…
RESTORING OUR BROKEN ECONOMY: Every candidate thus far has put economic recovery at the top of their agenda, some of whom have put an eye towards the future with a focus on STEM+H academies and the like.

There’s an old adage that says the smaller the differences the harder the feelings. One suspects this is going to be the case as Republicans begin to jostle for position.

Yet for all the negative campaigning that is about to occur, Virginia Republicans should take solace in two facts:

We are all chomping at the bit to run against Terry McAuliffe and Ralph Northam’s legacy of blackface, corruption, and malaise. In this, there is tremendous unity among the grassroots — and that is a very positive sign. Pushing past the candidates? We all know the stakes if McAuliffe wins.
Republicans are going to take back the House of Delegates this fall. Happening, guys. The Democrats know it; Republicans know it. No Republican will ever have to hear the charge of being “against the science” when Democrats don’t even know which bathroom to use.

Here’s some more good news. Should the Democrats actually nominate “Blackface” Mark Herring instead of Del. Jay Jones? You could draw a name out of a hat for the Republican nomination for attorney general and the contest isn’t even going to be close.

There’s the hope, right?

Once again, the Democrats are going to nominate the weakest candidate on their menu, in an environment where they are telling their own progressive wing to shut up and sit back down, where Northam can’t get his arms around the pandemic, where his administration is mired in actual scandal, and where the assault on 1A and 2A rights isn’t going by unnoticed by the public.

Who are Virginians going to trust to revive this economy? Certainly not the party obsessed with divisive social issues. Certainly not the party that is anti-science and anti-freedom. Certainly not the party of blackface and post-birth abortion.

This is all to say that we are going to be in for a spirited and bumpy ride over these next two months, fellow Republicans.

But predicate every ad with this one line: “The reason I can beat Terry McAuliffe and not this guy is…” and then listen to what they have to say.

If they’re not making that case? Move along.

Meanwhile, the Republican faithful are remarkably united and energized against Democratic overreach. We are starting to figure out that we aren’t alone, that the left really is as crazy as they say they are, and that their contempt for working class values is boundless to the point of fanaticism.

That unity is a excellent early sign — provided we can ensure that those who agree with us 80% of the time are not treated like 20% heretics.

There is more that unites us than divides us. Let the paid consultants do their thing, but don’t read too much into it. We all have the same reasons to be in the tent; our only task is to select the best champion for our values.

Shaun Kenney is the editor of The Republican Standard, former chairman of the Board of Supervisors for Fluvanna County, and a former executive director of the Republican Party of Virginia.