Despite controversy heading into last Saturday’s Democratic nominating convention for the Fifth District that includes Charlottesville, as expected Nelson County farmer Al Weed won the honor of again challenging Republican incumbent Virgil Goode for his congressional seat.
Earlier this spring, each locality in the Fifth District held a caucus, during which party faithful elected delegates to represent them in a primary. After the caucuses, Weed emerged with the most delegates. However, the race was contested up to the end because Weed’s opponent, Bern Ewert, kept his hopes alive by challenging delegates to renege on their pledge and switch their votes from Weed to Ewert.
The matter was immaterial when the Weed delegates stuck to their guns last weekend, giving him 114 of 187 votes.
“It was a hard-fought campaign,” says Weed. “Ewert’s people read the rules so that they could do what they did. We made no effort to change the minds of the Bern people.”
“I’m proud of everything we sent out,” says Ewert. He says he checked his strategy with Virginia Democratic Party Chairman Dick Cranwell, who says Ewert was within the rules in this case. The Fifth District committee can change those rules to bind delegates to their pledges, Cranwell says.
Helping to patch over differences in the oft acrimonious race during which both Ewert and Weed denounced each other as easy prey for Goode, Ewert gave a gracious concession speech and now says, “I’m behind the nominee.”
“I couldn’t help but be happy with the way that it went,” says Albemarle Democratic Chairman Fred Hudson.
Some delegates found Ewert’s appeals to alter their pledge troubling. “The caucus system by which we chose our delegates was a democratic one,” says Weed delegate Katherine McNamara. “It was disturbing to see it pushed on by Bern Ewert. It’s too bad. I think the party needs to re-examine this and make sure that it can’t happen again.”
“Conventional wisdom is that [negative Democratic primary races] strengthen Republican campaigns,” says Hudson. “I’m not sure that’s the case in this instance.”
“It was good for us,” says Weed. “It made us organized and focused, though it didn’t help with the money.”—Will Goldsmith