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Norment Endorses Cox; Democrats Rumble As Northam Picks McAuliffe

Norment's endorsement of Cox is a big move, yet remains overshadowed by deep Democratic infighting as the Byrd Machine picks its own.

Shaun Kenney

Apr 9

First and foremost, to grapple with how important the endorsement of State Senator Tommy Norment (R-James City) truly is, one has to imagine the gulf — and in fact, the rivalry — between the Republicans in both the House of Delegates and the Virginia Senate.

So wide is this gulf that when then-Speaker Kirk Cox (R-Colonial Heights) cut the deal to expand Medicaid in order to avoid a Bernie-style Medicaid for All proposal, it was Norment who was left in the cold as Cox and Northam cut the deal that brought it much close to what then-Governor (and former Vice President) Mike Pence achieved in Indiana.

State Senator Emmett Hanger (R-Mount Solon) had long been rumored to be the Senate Republicans’ candidate for the gubernatorial nod. Yet after weeks of speculation that Glenn Youngkin might have pulled off the impossible, it seems as if Senate Republicans are putting their weight behind Cox:

"To begin the daunting work of restoring the common-sense conservative policies that made Virginia a national model, Republicans must win all three statewide offices and regain the majority in the House of Delegates this year. But to effectively fulfill that mission, we need a Republican governor who has the extensive experience to start reversing the damage on day one. Kirk Cox will be that governor.

"Like Governors Allen and McDonnell, Kirk Cox has the legislative experience essential to passing a conservative agenda through the General Assembly. Kirk respects our constitution and understands the importance of the limits it places on all branches of government. He will employ the constitutional options available to a governor, and the skills he honed as a legislative leader, to attack learning loss, kick-start the economy, support law enforcement, and promote public safety.

Conservatives in the Virginia Senate — namely State Senator Mark Obenshain (R-Harrisonburg) — are mostly angling for Pete Snyder in the current contest, which may provide a bit of insight as to how these endorsements are coming down.

As it stands at present, Cox seems to be carrying most of the state endorsements from former governors and current members of the US House of Representatives. Former Governors George Allen and Bob McDonnell were very early supporters. Rep. Morgan Griffith (VA-09) has endorsed, as well as former Rep. Tom Davis.

Snyder’s endorsement list runs a bit shorter, but certainly has its strong conservative bonafides. Former Heritage Foundation president Kay Coles James is — for policy wonks such as myself — the very top of that list, followed by former Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli. State Senator Mark Obenshain joins endorsements from Delegate Israel O’Quinn and Lee Ware respectively.

The endorsement list for Glenn Youngkin is a bit thin, but is perhaps notable for the individuals he has chosen to endorse downticket, plowing $400,000 into a PAC designed to help local Republican and conservative elected officials — a sorely needed resource in Virginia.

State Senator Amanda Chase (I-Chesterfield) breathlessly announced being endorsed by former Lt. General Michael Flynn, which probably doesn’t swing votes, but is an endorsement nonetheless.

This leaves precisely three notable Republican public figures as having yet-to-endorse: former Governor Jim Gilmore — recently on return as ambassador to the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) — and Representatives Rob Wittman (VA-01) and Ben Cline (VA-06).

Allow me to offer just one word of caution. Having been privy to much of the negative campaigning that has been going on to date, I’d encourage folks to take it all with a grain of salt. Most of the attacks have been downright silly. We should take that as a good sign, because it demonstrates that our top-tier candidates aren’t terribly far removed from one another in the final analysis.

More than this, we are all going to have to work together the day after the election. Which is more than what Virginia Democrats are going to be able to say after what is looking to be a bloody and racially divisive June primary…

In more bewildering and spectacular news, Ralph Northam endorsed the guy who told him to quit just three years ago — Terry McAuliffe.

If that strikes you as, well, just plain odd? You’re not alone.

Far be it from me to dwell too long on LG Justin Fairfax’s comments that McAuliffe treated him like George Floyd (ouch).

I was falsely accused in 2019. Everyone here on the stage called for my immediate resignation, including Terry McAuliffe, three minutes after the press release came out. He treated me like George Floyd, treated me like Emmett Till. No due process. Immediately assumed my guilt.

Of course, as Matt Colt Hall over at the Virginia Star outlines, Fairfax was warming up the engines to take the place of an embattled Northam in 2019 after the blackface/KKK allegations (Northam still cannot recall which) when the funniest thing happened — the media was fed a story about Fairfax and an instance of sexual assault.

Thus not only did Northam survive thanks to some — shall we say, fast — assistance from on high, but Virginia Democrats effectively blinked at the open racism in their own ranks.

That’s how we get things done in Tammany, I suppose.

So to watch Northam deliver his payback to McAuliffe for all that help with an endorsement while everyone in the room — Justin Fairfax especially — knows how the sausage got made? And no one breathes a word in the media?

Come the hell on, fellas.

Worse still? That the media (the leftist institution that it is) sits on its hands and doesn’t even bother to report on the dichotomy?

Name any other time where conservatives and progressives join hands against the liberal establishment and point towards the same problem?

Of course, Virginia Republicans are watching in real time as Virginia Democrats are telling just about every person of color on the ticket that the fix is in. Pete Snyder raked Virginia Democrats over the coals for it:

“The fix is in, Virginia Democrats. You knew it was going to happen, and the two of them are elbowing out an entirely new generation of talent in the Democratic party. But you know what? This is what the establishment does. They squash the little guy. They cast aside others just so they could desperately cling to power.”

…and yet the primary is supposed to be the so-called “democratic way”?

Never mind that. Of course it is the Democratic way (capital-D) — this is how the Jim Crow-era Byrd Machine works to grind out opposition.

Black Democrats now get the treatment of having perfectly qualified candidates run against the party machine, only to be ground to dust the very moment they come close to touching actual power — and have it done to them by two guys in blackface/hoods backed by Clintonistas like Fast Terry.

Not that DPVA Chairman Susan Swecker is bothered by that prospect at all:

Susan Swecker @DPVAChair

And that's a big ole damn straight. We are having a primary where thousands of people will choose our statewide nominees - THAT'S THE DEMOCRATIC WAY! @vademocrats @petesnyder @TMSoutherland85

Trevor Southerland @TMSoutherland85

I don't think the person rigging the @VA_GOP convention, in which only a few hundred will have a vote, by paying off RPV staff & officers should really be commenting about the open primary on the D side that will allow every Virginian the opportunity to have their voice heard. https://t.co/0eOzh0Z0b2

Kirk Cox was also terribly nonplussed about the dichotomy:

Two years ago, McAuliffe called Northam's actions 'racist, unacceptable & inexcusable'. Today, he gratefully accepted his endorsement. Yesterday, McAuliffe sent out a fundraising email calling me racist for advocating for election integrity.

For one, I’m not sure Republicans have to tolerate any scolding from a political party whose leader can't remember his preference for blackface or hoods.

But I guess that’s the Byrd Machine Way.

For Republicans wondering about whether or not our internal fisticuffs are going to hobble us in November, do not worry too much. Democrats seem more intent on destroying minority voices within their own ranks in the pursuit of raw power.

In the words of Jack Kemp, if the Democratic Party is failing minority communities, give the Republicans a try and help shape the future of a party that desperately needs your leadership — and if it doesn’t work? Fire us.

What you are seeing here is an evolution in Republican leadership.

As progressives begin to figure it out that the institutions really are against them, and as conservatives begin to hear their voices in anti-institutionalist rhetoric? Guess who is smiling from above?

Are we figuring it out yet?

Maybe — just maybe — if we shed that leftist narrative and quit playing up to it, we might actually find common ground with folks who want the same things we do for our families, businesses, and communities?

Given all the Schumpeterian creative destruction that has impacted just about every other economy and institution, maybe it’s high time for government — the last of the institutions — to get a taste of their own policies and get that critical overhaul that puts power back into the hands of individuals for a change?

Maybe Milton Friedman was right.

The suburbs are looking for a champion and a message. Virginia Republicans might actually be forging that message in real time.

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.