Assembly Politics in an election year can get very tough. And the GOP is trying to play hardball with House Minority Leader Ward Armstrong.
Armstrong was recently appointed to the State Crime Commission to replace departing gubernatorial candidate Brian Moran. As Jim Nolen describes in today’s RTD and Freddy Kunkle did in a recent WAPO article, he arrived just in time to cast the deciding vote against recommending legislation to close the “gun show loophole,” a legislative perennial that gained new momentum when it was strongly supported by families who had been impacted by the tragic events at Virginia Tech.
Armstrong voted in line with the interests of his constituents, but against the position of the majority of Democrats in his own caucus, especially those who reside in NOVA.
What’s a leader to do when his caucus feels one way and his voters the other? Armstrong will likely be in the same position on the cigarette tax and the smoking ban proposed by Governor Kaine.
If the GOP has its way, the Democratic minority leader’s fun is just beginning. Driving a wedge between Armstrong and his caucus is merely step one.
The Minority Leader sits in a district that voted heavily for McCain, an open invitation for the Republicans to recruit a candidate against him in the upcoming Assembly elections.
And, if that doesn’t work for the GOP, Armstrong may be ultimately dependent on the Democrats gaining a majority in the 2009 House elections to keep his political future intact.
It is almost a given that rural Virginia will lose seats in the redistricting that follows in the wake of the 2010 census. And if the GOP is drawing the lines, Armstrong’s seat will be in the mix.
Armstrong may have voted with the Republicans on the “gun show loophole” legislation. But it is not preventing the GOP from putting him in the crosshairs of their political sights.
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