The entire goal of those that sought to remove Rep. Denver Riggleman (R) was to keep the process and convention itself small. No small task in a district like the Virginia 5th that covers more land mass than the state of New Jersey. Conventions are smaller affairs anyway compared to primaries and make no mistake conventions are controlled affairs from the jump. Normal conventions anyway yet the Virginia 5th was anything but normal in 2020.
The actual committee that overseas the process locally within the district my any objective analysis was compromised. Denver Riggleman was elected in 2018 in large part without going through the dated and in truth antiquated committee approval process. Committees like to lock in their preferred candidate long before the public is even aware of who it will even be. Riggleman was considered an outsider. In truth that is why Riggleman won in 2018 in the first place in the district that is one of the most diverse in Virginia.
The committee leaders such as Melvin Adams and Chris Shore set out along with Diana Shore and others to select their own candidate for 2020 independent of Denver Riggleman. This was rather alarming in truth the the majority of the Virginia conservative social media channels as Riggleman was endorsed not only by President Trump but also Jerry Falwell Jr of Liberty University. Ironically after the committee with the support of the Conservative Fellowship and Middle Resolution elements interviewed a half a dozen or so potential candidates they selected an individual employed by Liberty University named Bob Good.
Hand picked from the Campbell County board to challenge Denver Riggleman supporters than set out to orchestrate what can only be called the most corrupt and suppressive convention in modern Virginia politics. Accusations of pay offs or as many call it "pay to play" where committee members were compensated by a candidates campaign. The Republican Party of Virginia (RPV) must call for a complete review of this committee and investigate the basis of "pay to play" and determine future laws governing committees regarding participation with any campaign involving compensation. Thus, if you are a "political consultant" for a campaign one must recuse themselves from any committee activities pertaining that the election that a campaign they are involved with is a candidate.
Bob Good characterizes himself as as "a strong bright red conservative, biblical and constitutional conservative" however based on actions and threat from his campaign against committee members this appears to be nothing more than rhetoric. Surrogates from the Good campaign are claimed to have threatened various members of the committee regarding votes that would be cast to decide whether the nomination should move to a primary method over that of a convention. Threats and intimidation via email, letters and verbal confrontations were the normal means of business for the Good campaign and those on the committee that supported Good from the beginning.
The convention itself appears on its face an organized sham. Dozens of pro-Riggleman potential delegates were apparently denied throughout the process of participating and the committee failed to identify which Tree Of Life Ministries (Good's home county) location as there are two different locations in the district where the convention would be located. The V5 stretches from the VA/NC line all the way north to almost the state line with District of Columbia. Yet the committee is only described as comprising the heavy concentrated bible belt of Virginia in the southern portion of the VA5. It is not uncommon for conventions to be held at religious sites however offering only one site in a district as expansive as VA5 appears suppressive on its face. If you were a participant coming from the northern portion of the district one would expect an eight hour round trip travel. This of course was the purpose for those supporting the convention method. Keep it small and keep participants mostly from the central to southern portion of the district.
Why was the convention organized in Lynchburg? A location in Bob Good's backyard that very well may not even be in the VA5 come redistricting in the next year or so throughout Virginia. Why did the committee seek to host the convention there and not at a central location within the district? The committee is also the most openly homophobic and xenophobic and any committee in Virginia. These belief systems are the very basis of decline in Republicans outcomes in elections the last decade. These "biblical conservatives" are holding on to ideals that no longer are accepted in the mainstream. The are trying to hold on to something that us unsustainable politically as the majority of Virginians no longer seek to have morality legislated.
The "biblical conservatives" of which there remain quite a few like State Senator Amanda Freeman Chase whose rhetoric mirrors Bob Good's once supported Riggleman but remained silent during the primary. Some alluded she had promised to endorse Riggleman but failed to in the end only endorsing Nick Freitas in the VA7. The VA7 consisting of heavier suburban voters wants no part of Chase in large part due to the large number of active female voters. This could be the reason why Freitas as not referred much at all to the Chase endorsement. Others have speculated it is also a means to keep the door open for a run for Governor by Freitas should his Congressional bid fall short.
The changes in Virginia demographics continue to go relatively ignored by the social "biblical" conservatives bent on religious authoritarianism. They have lost every single election they have nominated a preferred candidate for more than a decade and even hold out hopes that a Ken Cuccinelli returns should Trump not win this November. Cuccinelli currently works in the Trump administration.
VA5 has highlighted just how controlling and manipulative the convention method can be and also highlights the very reasons why so many social conservatives refuse to accept or support "Primaries". In a primary "biblical conservatives" are often defeated by other center right candidates. There is less insider control in primaries and much more demands on the candidate and his/her engagement with the electorate. Conventions are a far cry from this reality. During primaries all registered voters may participate however as the convention in the VA5 illustrates when you control who can and cannot participate behind close doors and without transparency you can "steal" a convention nomination.
"Bob Good is not a conservative. Conservatives believe in a free-market and a fair and open process in elections. He does not. Bob Good is not a “Constitutional Conservative” or a “Biblical” one as he claims. If he was, he would accept gay marriage as the law of the land. If he was a Christian as he claims, he would seek to love thy neighbor like thyself, instead of treating Denver’s act of love and friendship as criminal and treating gay Americans as mentally ill.
This man does not deserve the seat of Madison, or to represent the home of Jefferson. He has the values of an America at its worst, not the ideals that it represents.
This seat belongs to someone who treats everyone equally, who cares about true service, and who realizes that the district has more to it than Liberty University. It has people of all colors, backgrounds, political opinions, and sexuality.
If the GOP steps in to help Bob Good, they deserve to lose – bigly. Bob Good is not representative of the party or its values, even if 30 Bible thumpers and a Basset hound tell us it is." (Michael Allers Jr.)
The lesson from the VA5 June convention should be that the Virginia GOP no longer supports the convention method until such time that it can establish clear and concise guidance and rules to govern such conventions that will not result in the corrupt practices that are so clearly evident in the VA5. These same individuals have made it clear they are targeting the VA6 next year in an attempt to repeat the same process of stacking the committee level before the next election in 2022.As long as the RPV permits this pervasive disregard for the intent of the Party Plan and how Virginia Republicans get to select their candidates these individuals will continue to ignore the ethical means of conducting committee participation and attempt to reshape and reform the entire RPV (ie the State Central Committee" to the same level of contempt for the majority of Virginians who differ from them on just about everything.
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