The fight between former Gov. Jim Gilmore and Del. Bob Marshal, R-Manassas, went down to the wire over the weekend, with the former Governor eking out a win over the outspoken legislator.
But among Virginia's electronic chattering class, the biggest news of the day was the win by Del. Jeff Frederick, R-Woodbridge, over former Lt. Gov. John Hager for the chairmanship of the party.
Black Velvet Bruce Li sees change afoot.
Too Conservative sees a nothing but a modern take on "Heart of Darkness."
Not Larry Sabato sees a pickup in the House of Delegates for Democrats.
What does it all mean? From here in the Cheap Seats, it looks like that wave of discontent inside the Virginia GOP that really started rolling in 2004 might have just come to a head.
Ever since the House and Senate Republicans split over Democratic Gov. Mark R. Warner's $1.5 billion tax hike, there's been a rift between the two wings of the part that hasn't healed.
One side, marked by legislators like the now retired Sens. H. Russell Potts Jr., R-Winchester, and John Chichester, R-Fredericksburg, was far more apt to reach across the aisle (and depending on whom you ask, sit down and get comfortable there). The other, led by Republicans like Del. Morgan Griffith, R-Salem, the House majority leader, thought the Senate had compromised too much.
The split between the two wings of the party was particularly evident after a string of GOP losses: Jerry Kilgore's gubernatorial loss in 2005, Sen. George Allen's loss in 2006 and the loss of the Virginia Senate in 2007. As an editor once told me, "three is a trend."
GOPers from the rank and file to legislators have told me repeatedly that something had to change or the the party was on its way to minority status again. Part of that change took place between November and January, when the now minority GOP Senate caucus took their House counterparts firmly by the hand and started singing from the same hymnal.
Were the weekend votes more of the change Republican said they needed? Quite possibly. Will it have the desire effect? Ask me in November.
But among Virginia's electronic chattering class, the biggest news of the day was the win by Del. Jeff Frederick, R-Woodbridge, over former Lt. Gov. John Hager for the chairmanship of the party.
Black Velvet Bruce Li sees change afoot.
Too Conservative sees a nothing but a modern take on "Heart of Darkness."
Not Larry Sabato sees a pickup in the House of Delegates for Democrats.
What does it all mean? From here in the Cheap Seats, it looks like that wave of discontent inside the Virginia GOP that really started rolling in 2004 might have just come to a head.
Ever since the House and Senate Republicans split over Democratic Gov. Mark R. Warner's $1.5 billion tax hike, there's been a rift between the two wings of the part that hasn't healed.
One side, marked by legislators like the now retired Sens. H. Russell Potts Jr., R-Winchester, and John Chichester, R-Fredericksburg, was far more apt to reach across the aisle (and depending on whom you ask, sit down and get comfortable there). The other, led by Republicans like Del. Morgan Griffith, R-Salem, the House majority leader, thought the Senate had compromised too much.
The split between the two wings of the party was particularly evident after a string of GOP losses: Jerry Kilgore's gubernatorial loss in 2005, Sen. George Allen's loss in 2006 and the loss of the Virginia Senate in 2007. As an editor once told me, "three is a trend."
GOPers from the rank and file to legislators have told me repeatedly that something had to change or the the party was on its way to minority status again. Part of that change took place between November and January, when the now minority GOP Senate caucus took their House counterparts firmly by the hand and started singing from the same hymnal.
Were the weekend votes more of the change Republican said they needed? Quite possibly. Will it have the desire effect? Ask me in November.
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