Virginia's 1st congressional district election, 2008

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The Virginia 1st congressional district election, 2008 is scheduled for November 4, 2008. This is the same day as the United States presidential election, 2008.

Contents

[edit] Candidates

[edit] Republican

Main article: Rob Wittman

Republican Rob Wittman, the incumbent, is running for re-election.[1] A Westmoreland County resident, he has only held the seat since January 2008, having won the Virginia's 1st congressional district special election, 2007 to succeed deceased Congresswoman Jo Ann Davis. He has taken up many of her causes, including the FairTax, veterans' interests and getting rid of the remainder of the ghost fleet stationed at the James River.[2][3][4] Like Davis, he is also introducing legislation to allow Virginia to regulate the importation of trash from other states.[5]

[edit] Democratic

The Democratic Party held its convention on May 17 in Williamsburg, Virginia to select a candidate.[6] The person selected was Keith Hummel, who was the only person who ran for the Democratic nomination. Only four votes were cast to not nominate anyone.

Hummel is a Westmoreland County physician and self-described "populist Democrat" who also operates a farm and winery. The issues he is running on include enacting trade and tax policies that protect American jobs and American interests (rather than those of a few multinational corporations); using the military for defense rather than offensively; providing better health care and other benefits to veterans; and universal health care. Hummel is an avid blogger who described many of his stances thereon.[7]

[edit] Libertarian

Anarcho-capitalist Catlett resident Nathan Larson filed a declaration of candidacy on May 7, and was certified for the ballot on June 6. He was nominated by the Libertarian Party 1st Congressional District Convention on June 3.[8] The main issue he is running on is free market roads and transit privatization, which he believes are the solution to DC Metropolitan area traffic congestion, recently ranked the second-worst in the country.[9] He supports auctioning off the Interstate Highway System and rail systems such as Amtrak to private investors. According to Larson, entrepreneurs wishing to build new roads and railways could obtain the necessary contiguous land parcels without invoking eminent domain through dummy purchasers, option contracts and other devices commonly used by private sector developers.[10][11] He is, perhaps, the first candidate for U.S. Congress to set up his entire campaign website as a wiki.[12]

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ Rob Wittman
  2. ^ The Online Office of Congressman Rob Wittman - Ghost Fleet
  3. ^ The Online Office of Congressman Rob Wittman - Taxes & Economy
  4. ^ The Online Office of Congressman Rob Wittman - Veterans
  5. ^ http://fredericksburg.com/News/FLS/2008/062008/06122008/386791
  6. ^ Democratic Party of Virginia | Event | Meeting, 1st Congressional District Democratic Committee
  7. ^ www.hummelforcongress.com
  8. ^ http://www.nathanlarsonforcongress.com/
  9. ^ A Ranking Writ In Brake Lights: D.C. 2nd in Traffic - washingtonpost.com
  10. ^ http://www.independentpoliticalreport.com/2008/06/nathan-larson-to-run-very-active-libertarian-campaign-for-congress-in-virginias-1st-district/
  11. ^ http://lpva.com/Archives/VaLiberty/2008/VL-2008-05.pdf
  12. ^ FAQ - NathanLarsonForCongress

[edit] External links