Redistricting Trials and Tribulations

Published in the Lynchburg Ledger in the August 5, 2011 edition. 

We are currently in the once-a-decade practice of political redistricting.  The Justice Department pre-cleared the Virginia General Assembly redistricting plans in June, paving the way for the nominating process.

Before discussing one of those races, I want to quickly touch on what is not so obvious about redistricting. 

Over the past 30 years, Virginia has moved from a primarily rural state to a primarily urban state, with respect to political influence.  Rural areas such as Central Virginia have experienced low or moderate growth where urban areas such as Northern Virginia have had explosive growth, thanks primarily to the ever-expanding federal government.

For years rural districts held the political power in the General Assembly.  This has meant that when it came to the distribution of funds, rural areas benefited at the expense of urban areas.  Having lived in Northern Virginia for 38 years, I saw first hand how citizens of the urban jurisdictions were subsidizing the rural jurisdictions.

For example, Northern Virginia jurisdictions received less than fifty cents back on every tax dollar sent to Richmond where rural areas received up to $1.50 for every dollar sent to Richmond. 

Campbell County, which has one of the lowest tax rates in Virginia, currently receives approximately $1.10 for every dollar sent to Richmond in taxes.

All that is about to change with the latest redistricting.  Rural cities and counties which for years have been heavily subsidized by the Virginia’s wealth redistribution system will likely be seeing much less in state funding for things like schools, law enforcement, courts and social services.  When that happens, local governments are going to be looking at drastically cutting services or raising taxes.

But right now, the political activity is focused on selecting candidates for the various General Assembly districts. 

The 59^th Delegate District was expanded westward to include a major portion of Campbell County with only the western portion of the county remaining in the 22^nd Delegate District.

With 59^th District Delegate Watkins Abbitt retiring, that district became an open seat.  On the Democrat side, Connie Brennan (who ran against Abbitt two years ago) and Jasper Hendricks (an open homosexual) will compete for the Democrat nomination.

On the Republican side, Appomattox attorney and long-time Republican Evans Thomas announced his candidacy as did Ron Ferrin from Campbell County.  However, it would appear neither was acceptable to Republican power brokers and they went looking for another candidate.  Ferrin withdrew and endorsed Evans Thomas.

They approached Campbell County businessman and farmer Matt Farris, who reportedly turned them down numerous times.  They were finally able to convince Farris to run after assuring him he would not have to show up on Mondays. With the help of the local farm community, Farris appears to have the support needed to win the nomination at the convention to be held in Appomattox on August 13^th.

Democrats appear absolutely ecstatic over the possibility of Farris winning the Republican nomination.  They consider him to be the easiest candidate to defeat.  Blogger “pattyvirginia” wrote on Bluevirginia.us, “With a joker like this on the GOP side, our candidate…will certainly be able to run a very good race and likely turn this seat blue.”  She concluded, “We should root for Matt to win the GOP nomination because in the general election, our candidate will clean his clock.”

What they discovered is that Farris has a blemished past.  He has been charged with numerous misdemeanors over the past ten years.  The record shows:

·        On November 30, 2000, he was charged with conspiracy to sell a wild animal.  He was found guilty and received a $50.00 fine

·        On December 19, 2001, he was changed with four offenses.  Improper stopping, hunting from a vehicle, expired registration and carrying a concealed weapon.  He was found not guilty on the stopping and hunting charges and guilty on the expired registration and concealed weapon changes.  He received a 10 day jail sentence which was suspended on the concealed weapon charge and paid a $25.00 fine on the expired registration.

·        On July 31, 2002, he was charged with failure to keep right of highway and was convicted in absentia.  The fine was $50.00

·        On May 27, 2010, he was charged with unlawful possession of a wild animal.  He was found guilty and received a fine of $100.00.

Farris calls himself as a “Common Sense Conservative” yet the record shows he has received $199,593.00 in federal farm subsidies from 1995 through 2010.  From a business and farming standpoint, there is absolutely nothing wrong with receiving federal farm subsidies, but from a true conservative standpoint, there is. 

Just recently, Farris lost a civil case in Circuit Court where an employee was awarded $500,000.00 for injuries sustained on the job.

Finally, Farris has let it be known that he intended to serve only one term in office.  That is indeed troubling as it takes a full two-year term to learn the procedures and develop the relationships necessary to be an effective legislator.  One has to wonder what kind of backroom deal has been struck and with who.

Delegates attending the August 13^th convention just might want to take a closer look at Evans Thomas, a true conservative with the political experience we need as a Delegate.  Evans Thomas worked for two years for Delegate Vance Wilkins and one year for Senator Wylie Mitchell in Richmond.  He can hit the ground running.

Matt Farris is a nice enough guy but he carries a great deal of baggage and lacks the political skills and experience needed in the General Assembly to fight for our issues such as the funding rural counties have come to depend on.. 

We can not afford to send the wrong person to Richmond.  Farris delegates just might want to switch their vote and elect the candidate who can run effectively against the Democrat, will show up for all the sessions and hearings and one who intends to stay as our representative for many years to come.