Find us on Facebook
Follow us on TwitterScott Garrett takes Republican nomination
CHET WHITE/THE NEWS & ADVANCE
Scott Garrett stands on Commerce Street in downtown Lynchburg and calls his opponent in the Republican primary race, Jeff Helgeson, after Garrett learned of his victory. Garrett celebrated with campaign volunteers, family and friends at the Swann Group building.
Republican primary results - Scott Garrett vs. Jeff Helgeson
Daily e-mail newsletter
Sign up for our newsletter e-mailed to you at 8 a.m. each day Monday through Friday.
Lynchburg City Councilman Scott Garrett won the Republican nomination Tuesday night to run for the House of Delegates against incumbent Del. Shannon Valentine.
Garrett defeated fellow councilman Jeff Helgeson by a 55-45 percent margin in the 23rd House District, which includes Madison Heights.
“This is a process,” Garrett said, of an eight-month campaign that started in February. “We have five months to go,” to the November general election.
Garrett said he thought one of the keys to his victory was his group of volunteer campaign workers, along with “our message, and getting it out to constituents.”
Mark Peake, Lynchburg’s Republican Party chairman, said the primary’s conclusion opens the door to a high-profile and expensive race between Garrett and Valentine, who has served in the 23rd District seat since 2006.
“I think now that the primary is over, you will see some real money coming in from the Republicans, because we want to take this seat back,” Peake said. Preston Bryant, a Republican, represented the district before he was named state Secretary of Natural Resources in late 2005.
Valentine issued a statement saying, “I offer my congratulations to City Councilman Dr. Scott Garrett, and look forward to a campaign that is honest, based on the issues, and reflects the character and integrity of the community in which we live.”
“I also extend my appreciation to City Councilman Jeff Helgeson for his willingness to run, and his dedication to public service,” Valentine said.
Peake said the Garrett-Valentine race to November will be interesting.
“You’ve got a doctor’s wife and a doctor going against each other. They know a lot of the same people and it’s going to be an interesting contest,” Peake said.
Valentine is married to Dr. Michael Valentine, a cardiac physician. Garrett is a retired surgeon.
Garrett raised $87,000 for the primary race and spent most of it mailing brochures to voters.
Valentine is sitting on a $170,000 campaign chest, according to vpap.org, but Peake said he expects Democrats to pour more money into the race.
“You will see it from Sen. Mark Warner, you will see it from Tim Kaine, (Virginia’s governor and chairman of the Democratic National Committee) and from the Democratic Party of Virginia,” Peake said.
“They are going to pour tons of resources into trying to hold this seat,” Peake said.
Democrats want to gain a majority in Virginia’s House of Delegates, and need to capture six more seats in November in addition to keeping the 45 they now have.
John Lawrence, Lynchburg’s Democratic Party chairman, said Garrett’s campaign against Helgeson focused on portraying himself as conservative on social issues.
When Garrett ran for City Council, Lawrence said, “He tried to portray himself as a moderate independent, and we knew better.”
“His performance on council has shown him to be a right-wing Republican,” Lawrence said.
The Republican race was decided by just more than 8 percent of the 23rd District’s registered voters, with about 4,100 people casting ballots for Garrett or Helgeson.
Even fewer voters turned out in Lynchburg for the Democratic gubernatorial primary. Just 2,666 Democratic votes were cast in the Hill City, with Creigh Deeds capturing 49 percent of them. Deeds’ edge in Lynchburg paralleled his victory margin statewide over Terry McAuliffe and Brian Moran.
The city’s Ward I precincts essentially delivered Garrett’s margin of victory with a 10 percent voter turnout. Garrett lives in that ward, which also delivered his strongest margin in his race for an at-large seat on council.
Helgeson won all the precincts in Ward III, which he represents on City Council, but the turnout there was lower than the citywide average.
Peake said, “Scott Garrett is the hardest-working man in politics. He went to work in this primary and just knocked on a whole bunch of doors and sent out lot of literature and made a lot of phone calls and got his people out to vote,” Peake said.
Peake also said he thought the 4,100 voter turnout was strong for a House of Delegates primary, and compared it to the roughly 5,200 in Lynchburg who cast ballots in the Republican presidential primary in 2008.
“To come that close in a House race shows both guys were working hard to get their votes out,” Peake said.
“Jeff ran a good campaign. He worked very hard as well, and he’s a young fellow and he has got a bright future ahead, and he’s going to be a force in the Republican Party for years to come,” Peake said.
Some members of City Council already had chosen sides in the race.
“Even though Scott’s a colleague of mine, I’m going to go with a proven leader in the legislature in Shannon Valentine,” said Councilman Ceasor Johnson.
Both Vice Mayor Bert Dodson and Councilman Mike Gillette had declared their support for Valentine early on in the campaign.
Councilman Turner Perrow, a member of the Lynchburg Republican Committee, said he felt Garrett’s chances of victory come November were excellent. Perrow had remained neutral during the primary campaign.
Advertisement
Reader Reactions
Joe,
Can you offer proof that Scott Garrett had an Obama sign in his yard before the election last year? I know Dr. Garrett, and I can’t imagine him doing such a thing!
I’d rather face facts rather than depend on “optimism”.
When Lyndon Johnson launched the War on Poverty, he didn’t envision an endless growth of welfare spending and dependence. If Johnson came back today to see the size of the current welfare state he would probably be shocked.
President Johnson’s focus was on giving the poor a “hand up” not a “hand out.“ In his first speech announcing the War on Poverty, Johnson stated, “the war on poverty is not a struggle simply to support people, to make them dependent on the generosity of others.“ Instead, the plan was to give the poor the behavioral skills and values necessary to escape from both poverty and dependence. Johnson sought to address the “the causes, not just the consequences of poverty.“
Johnson’s original vision has been abandoned by Democrats. We now have a clear expectation that the number of persons receiving welfare aid should be enlarged each year, and that the benefits they receive should be expanded. Democratic budget spending projections prove it.
And any failure to increase the numbers of individuals dependent on government and the benefits they get is regarded as “mean spirited”.
More than twenty years ago, Democratic President Jimmy Carter stated, “the welfare system is anti-work, anti-family, inequitable in its treatment of the poor and wasteful of the taxpayers’ dollars.“ Carter was right, yet today nothing has changed except that the welfare system has become vastly larger and more expensive.
Why is that a reason for “optimism”?
imprimis you can be a pessimist all you want, but I prefer to look around me and see all the optimistic stories. They are just as many optimistic stories or maybe even more, then the pessimistic stories you want to promote.
Wasn’t there a welfare reform in the 1990’s. Why are you still using stories that go back 40-50 years? But even today, from those years, there are plenty of optimistic stories.
No, Gordie, I’m not the one who began questioning the mental capacity of those who believe differently than you do. I’m not that intolerant and bigoted.
You seem to believe that if you “give” people things, they will take pride in that and then strive to better themselves.
Can you not see with your eyes (no propaganda, just look around) what the results of 40 or 50 years of increasing government giveaways has been?
There are entire generations of children who believe that a welfare check is the normal way to live; it’s how grandma lives, and how momma lives, and it’s how I will live.
You don’t give people “pride” in themselves by giving them a living.
Given the results so far of this Great Experiment, why would we want to do MORE of it?
Sorry Imprimis by your answer it is you who are simple minded and short sighted. You also listen to too much propaganda.
“This family with their new found pride kept searching for ways to better improve themselves. They gained a sense of self worth and finally were able to raise themselves to a higher level.“
Gordie - For your simple Democratic mind, here’s how the past 45 years of the War On Poverty has demonstrated that it actually works.
“This family with their free money realized that they no longer had to work, no longer had to try to better themselves, since they realized that people would GIVE them money for nothing. Their children recognized it too, and began a cycle of poverty and dependence that carried on generation after generation.“
You mean your superior intellect hasn’t seen this actually happen over the years? Open your eyes.
Here is a simply written story for those who are too simple minded to understand a more complex reason why to vote Democrat.
Republican’s will never believe in pride for other people.
=================================
Two wealthy men of opposite thinking were discussing taxes and taking care of the underprivileged, each agreed that in their society five pennies was needed to live on. They also agreed to find 2 families who needed help to meet that goal.
Let’s say these men had 100 pennies each and they will be called A & B. These 2 men found families which will be called C & D.
C & D each earn 1 penny, so A & B each decided to help C & D with 4 pennies each.
“A” said, I am giving my 4 pennies to the families so they will have 5 pennies and they could decide how to spend it. (Democrat)
“B” said I could never do that; they will just waste the money on other things. He said I am going to give them 2 pennies and create a food panty with the rest. I will give my money to the food pantry and he can get the rest of his money at the food pantry as food. (Republican)
“C” took his money and with pride he walked into stores and purchased items, the family needed. This family with their new found pride kept searching for ways to better improve themselves. They gained a sense of self worth and finally were able to raise themselves to a higher level. Over time they did not need the 4 pennies they were allotted and “A” could search for a new family to help.
“D” got his 2 cents and every Saturday waited in line to get the rest of his 2 cents. There were many times so many people were in line, that when it came to his turn he only got 1 cent worth of goods. This family was always down in the dumps searching for ways to improve them selves, but most of the time it was to find food so the children would not go hungry. The man of the house often went hungry, so he did not have time or the energy to find others means to improve his family’s way of life. His children went to school often hungry and ashamed of the clothes they wore. A teen age daughter even took a hand me down bra so she was not embarrassed to go to school with out a bra.
“B” finally said, “I see nothing happening with this worthless family, so I am cutting my contribution to 3 pennies. The cycle created by “B” attitude can never have a happy ending.
Even with “A” way there is no guarantee, but there is opportunity, which leads to hope and can some day change some one in this family.
Summing it up, “Yes I believe in making the wealthy pay their share to help the poor, I could never believe in “B” theory. To me it does not seem possible to have a happy ending.
Just what suffering will be inserted on a person who still has 95 pennies left?
Summing up the story that is why I am a Democrat. I know we do not live in a perfect world with high principles and follow that belief, but most of us Democrats do.
Martha -
You ARE a “yellow dog Democrat”.
I vote for people from all parties, Democratic, Republican, Independent, Libertarian, depending on who the best person is, NOT what party they’re running from.
Saying that the best person to vote for always happens to be a Democrat is like saying that the best person to hire in your business always happens to be white, even though you CALL yourself “diverse”.
Isn’t our job as citizens to elect the best person for the job, and not just the people that belong to the same club as you do?
I’m REALLY disappointed that you see your duty as a voting citizen to be electing only people from your organization ..... I’m a bit more tolerant than that, I hope.
If you want to demonize conservatives, OK. If you want to know Scott Garrett, I suggest you recall the 4’ X 8’ Obama sign in his front yard for about a month before the 08 election. He’s not a Republican or a Democrat. He’s a politician.
I challenge anyone who posts here to make an appointment w/ Valentine and talk to her. She’s reasonable, sound and pragmatic.She reaches out to all political stripes ( note the supportive letter from former Police Chief and councilman Seiffert…not that he will vote for her, but support on a particular issue non-ther-less).She is not nearly as progressive as I am but her opposition is not someone I would ever choose to support. I back exactly what our Chair John Lawrence said to Ray Reed about Dr. Garrett.
Of course I vote for Democrats. I am a member of the Exec. Com. of the Democratic Committee in Lynchburg. It’s part of our mission statement to elect Democrats…DUH.Why is that so hard for anyone to understand?
Any compassionate conservaite, moderate or liberal would choose Valentine over Garrett. What Republican shoes will Dr. Garrett wear for this election? The right-wing ones or the moderate ones? The Republican Party is struggling to include people from all wings of its Party. The Dems seemed to have arrived at that point already ( note our President and you can call him Prez. Teleprompter all you want he draws support from many people). Valentine hasn’t changed it’s Garrett who hasn’t found his true North.Peace!
Advertisement