Connie Brennan challenging Watkins Abbitt.

My friend and Sorensen classmate Connie Brennan has declared her candidacy against Republican Watkins Abbitt to represent the 59th District, the state’s largest district, which consists entirely of rural areas south of Charlottesville. (Abbitt is ostensibly an independent, but he votes with Republicans and, I believe, caucuses campaigns with them, so whatever. He struck up the same deal that Rep. Virgil Goode did to save his hide come redistricting in 2001.) Connie is a career nurse at the UVa Medical Center, a member of the Nelson County Board of Supervisors, was on Governor Kaine’s transition team and serves on at least a couple of state boards. Del. Abbitt is…uh… Well, he’s done…uh. Hey, here’s his record — if he’s done anything in his 11 terms, you just let everybody know.

Raising Kaine reveals that Abbitt apparently supports Rep. Goode’s recent comments, in which he attacked a fellow congressman for his religious beliefs.

Published by Waldo Jaquith

Waldo Jaquith (JAKE-with) is an open government technologist who lives near Char­lottes­­ville, VA, USA. more »

22 replies on “Connie Brennan challenging Watkins Abbitt.”

  1. Watkins Abbitt should be known not only by his votes and non-performance in the Legislature, but by the company he keeps.

    Virgil Goode is one of his friends, as is Frank Ruff. You might remember Frank Ruff’s hilarious LTE last spring concerning Virgil’s candidacy:

    Link

    Let me clearly state what the people of the Fifth Congressional District already understand – that we presently have good and honest representation in Virgil Goode and there is absolutely no “taint” surrounding his name.

    I have been privledged to know Virgil Goode for over 30 years. I have always considered Virgil a man of the highest character, integrity and honesty.

    Virgil Goode has been working tirelessly to bring jobs and economic opportunity to our communities. Our region has been devastated by the loss of jobs over the last decade and Congressman Goode is constantly working to revitalize the economy in our communities.

  2. AUDITIONS/HELP WANTED

    Are there any Dems out there who live in Brownsville who want to be a precinct captain . . .

    I need a precinct captian for Brownsville. Crozet, too . . . though that is not relivant to this particular race.

    Contact me through this link if interested:

    http://www.albemarledems.org/organization/whitehall.htm

    (there is a link to my email)

    I am listed as the Crozet captain, that just needs updating.

  3. Waldo,
    (Abbitt is ostensibly an independent, but he votes with Republicans and, I believe, caucuses with them, so whatever. He struck up the same deal that Rep. Virgil Goode did to save his hide come redistricting in 2001.)
    Abbitt does often vote with the House Republian majority but doe not caucus with them. The only independent who does is Del. Lacey Putney, I-R Bedford.

  4. More correctly in English, what I meant to say was:
    Abbitt does often vote with the House Republican majority but does not caucus with them. The only independent who does is Del. Lacey Putney, I-R Bedford.

  5. Connie will not win her race without some serious Democratic turnout in the Albemarle County portions of the 59th. If you live in the Southern part of the County (fairly close to the city around 5th St./Old Lynchburg) you very well might be in the 59th. If you can help, as a precinct captain or a volunteer, please let the Albemarle Dems know. This seat is not usually thought of as part of the plan to win back control of the GA. If we can win, it would be a very welcome surprise.

    The incumbent is not only an ally of Virgil Goode, but if you look at his record and bio, they’re basically clones. I call Del. Abbitt “Virgil Jr. Jr.” If you’re can’t wait until 2008 to work out your frustration with Goode, yoi can, and should, start in the 59th right now.

  6. I heard once that Del. Abbitt is an independent only because he doesn’t want to go to caucus meetings. Pretty pathetic.

    Not only does he vote with the GOP, he campaigns with them as well.

  7. Abbitt does often vote with the House Republian majority but doe not caucus with them. The only independent who does is Del. Lacey Putney, I-R Bedford.

    Thank you for that, Bob — I couldn’t remember if it was Del. Putney or Del. Abbitt who caucused with Republicans. I certainly knew that it wasn’t Del. Waddell. :)

  8. Good so see someone challenging Abbitt. Sadly, the areas of Albemarle that are in the 59th aren’t the most liberal. It’ll definitely be a hard fight, but I can’t really imagine Abbitt mounting a very strong campaign.

  9. Dan,

    Like it or not, Virgil Goode wins election after election with over 60% of the vote. So pasting the ‘Virgil’ brand on Abbitt is probably going to be counter-productive. Especially in a district that tends towards voting Republican.

    If it were me, I would take Abbitt’s status as a non-Republican to run to the right of him on some carefully-picked issues. Judging by the laughable weakness and amateurism of his campaigns in the past, a clever group of strategists should be able to run circles around Abbitt and make him look like Jabba the Hut crossed with Hillary Clinton by election day.

    Abbitt has always looked to me like he should be beatable by a serious candidate who approaches the race in a professional way with a timely start and some real fundraising. Best of luck.

  10. Good so see someone challenging Abbitt. Sadly, the areas of Albemarle that are in the 59th aren’t the most liberal. It’ll definitely be a hard fight, but I can’t really imagine Abbitt mounting a very strong campaign.

    You summarize things well there, L. Dripps.

    Connie has been planning this race for some time now, is totally committed to it, has a wealth amount of political experience and training, and knows the district well. Plus, what her ex-husband learned in his campaign against Abbitt a few years ago — which he ran knowing full well he’d lose, which I find to be a truly admirable quality in a candidate of any political affiliation — will be enormously useful to her. (The two of them are both on the Nelson Board of Supervisors, and they remain good friends many years after divorcing.)

    Running against an incumbent is never easy. Del. Abbitt isn’t loved, and he isn’t hated — he’s just sort of there because he’s been there, and he’s been there because he shares his name with his father, who was a well-known and well-liked politician in his time. He’s got no record to run on, but he’s also been involved in no scandals. There’s no obvious path to victory, at least not that’s obvious to me, but shaking a lot of hands and listening to a lot of people may be how to get it done.

  11. Actually the three precincts that are in the 59th from Albemarle are fairly Democratic.

    Red Hill: 64.7% for Kaine, 62.6 for Byrne, and 65.2 for Deeds.
    Country Green:69.2 for Kaine, 67.4 Byrne, and 66.8 Deeds.
    Porters: 70.5 for Kaine, 68.1 for Byrne, and 70 for Deeds.

    Jim Webb received 60.7, 60.5, and 64.8 in the three Albemarle precincts respectively. The problem will be getting these voters out in an off-year, off-year. Outreach to the Republican counties like Buckingham and Cumberland will need to start now. She has to at least get the base vote in Appomatox. Byrne got 48% in this district, Deeds 49.3% and Kaine won it 50-47-2.

  12. I live in Esmont and recently received a push-poll style “constituent survey” from Abbot. In one of the questions he used the wrong “to” (“too” instead of “to”). So I say vote the dummy out.

  13. The portions of the 59th in Albemarle have voted for Democrats as asmith notes above, but the northern and western precincts of Albemarle have had better Democratic momentum in the last few elections. Canvassing appears to have helped us in these urbanizing areas, but the rural southern areas of Albemarle are not easily canvassed. Connie and helpers will need some other inventive strategy to reach potential voters.

  14. I not a Dem, but can confirm Connie is a class act. I hope she wins, and can bring some much needed Sunshine into this district.

    There are a lot of people in need in this part of the state, in addition the many very wealthy which reside there.

    I hope she can also use her experience and contacts in the medical field to bring much needed change in the medical care available in this district.

    She should definitly have a good handle on the many issues.

    Who is her X?

  15. As a friend, supporter and critic(at Times) of Connie, I agree it will be an up hill battle. Cinsidering what Virgil did to Al Weed twice in those counties chances are slim, BUT Jim Web was not suppose to win either. Hoping to see and hear from Connie tonight at the NCDC.

Comments are closed.