Jim Bebout Seeking Republican Nomination For Virginia's 9th District

BRISTOL, Va. – A Marion, Va., entrepreneur announced Monday he hopes to challenge longtime U.S. Rep. Rick Boucher, D-9th.

Jim Bebout, 50, said he will seek the Republican nomination to run next year for the 9th District seat during a “tea party” protest at Sugar Hollow Park on Monday evening.

Soft-spoken and wearing a button-down shirt, worn loafers and a newsboy cap, Bebout described himself as the “average Joe citizen … who’s pretty much fed up with politicians that just let you down at every turn.”

He spoke to a crowd of more than 200, according to a sign-in list kept by event organizers.

“I’m watching my country get run over a cliff, and I have to do something,” he added.

Bebout said he moved to Southwest Virginia from Hampton Roads to retire – but he couldn’t stand to sit back and watch the country continue on its current path.

“Although he has brought home the bacon to the 9th District for 28 years, he’s doing it now while the kitchen is burning down,’ Bebout said of Boucher. “A lot of what he’s doing is unconstitutional.”

Boucher, asked in advance of the event for his thoughts about a then-unnamed political challenger and claims that the cap-and-trade legislation he supports is unconstitutional, said many of the statements likely to be made at the picnic were false, and he believed it would be primarily a Republican rally.

“The total cost [of the cap and trade bill] for the typical American family is less than a postage stamp per day,” Boucher said. “Coal production and use will continue to grow. ... This bill is a job-creator.”

Boucher, who ran unopposed last year, said he’s not surprised to hear of a challenger already announcing plans to run for his seat in 2010, when the congressional race will not be overshadowed by a presidential race.

“I’m sure there’ll be more than that before it’s all said and done,” Boucher said of likely opponents. “It’ll be a fun year next year.”

Bebout was among the speakers at Monday’s picnic who decried the size of recent government spending and declared the need for reduced federal spending.

The others included U.S. Rep. Phil Roe, R-1st, of Tennessee, and Virginia Delegate Terry Kilgore, R-Gate City. Boucher was invited but did not attend.

Bebout said he will only pursue the GOP nomination for Boucher’s seat if Kilgore chooses not to run; Kilgore said he plans to seek re-election to the Virginia House of Delegates, where he has served for 16 years.

Kilgore spoke about the need to fight cap-and-trade legislation, which would limit emissions of carbon dioxide; he also spoke in support of Republican Bob McDonnell’s candidacy for governor.

“It’s time that Virginia sends a message to the rest of the nation that we are going back to conservative principles,” Kilgore said. “Bob is not going to go for the government takeover of all this stuff. He will fight for our state’s rights.”

Roe said he has a simple philosophy for government: “Spend less than you take in.”

He said many congressmen vote on bills they’ve never read – and that’s why so many pass that saddle taxpayers with tremendous debt and, in his view, contradict the Constitution.

Roe, a doctor, said the proposed health care reforms would destroy the private health care industry, stifle medical innovation and the quality of life achieved by American medical technology.

He said he believes cap and trade legislation would drive Kingsport’s Eastman Chemical Co., a major employer in his district, out of business or overseas while raising the average family’s electric bill by $3,000 per year.

He said Congress recently approved $30 million to buy wetlands near California to protect a mouse, and $50 million to protect swans and big cats in foreign countries – and called it “unconscionable” wasteful spending with borrowed funds at a time when many Americans lack jobs and health care.

“We have spent $1.5 million for signs to say ‘This project was funded by the stimulus package,’” Roe said. “How dumb is that?”

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