ABINGDON, Va. – In a visit Saturday to far Southwest Virginia, Republican congressional candidate Morgan Griffith promised to spend a lot of time on this end of the 9th District if he is elected to replace U.S. Rep. Rick Boucher, D-Va.
“I will be down here all the time,” Griffith said. “I will dedicate myself to making sure I’m here, that I hear [the people’s] issues and that I vote the way they would want me to vote.”
Griffith, who lives in Salem, is the current majority leader in the Virginia House of Delegates. He said that while Boucher has done a decent job of bringing home money for small projects, on the big issues Boucher is out of step with his constituents.
Boucher’s office couldn’t be reached for comment Saturday, but Jared Leopold, spokesman for the Democratic Party of Virginia, offered to mail Griffith a map to help him find his way on roads that Boucher knows by heart.
“You can’t drive a mile down the road without seeing something that Rick Boucher’s done for the communities of Southwest Virginia,” Leopold said. “He’s represented Southwest Virginia both in his votes on issues and on projects that he’s brought back to the district.”
This isn’t the first time the conversation on Griffith has focused on geography; his house is technically a few feet outside the 9th District, but he said he’ll be in the district when the lines are re-drawn next year.
“I think the people of the 9th District would rather be represented by somebody who votes like a Salem Republican … than somebody who votes like Nancy Pelosi’s [D-Calif.] next-door neighbor,” said Griffith, whose state House district contains a piece of the 9th Congressional District.
Boucher, who lives in Abingdon, has represented the district in Congress since 1983.
Griffith said Boucher has “capitulated” to a national Democratic agenda on climate change legislation, equivalent to “a knife in the heart of one of the most important industries in his district” – and he wants to put the fight back into the Fighting Ninth.
But while he appears to be the clear front-runner for the Republican nomination, Griffith, who formally filed his candidacy paperwork Friday, said he’s not taking it for granted.
Fellow Republican candidate Adam Light said Saturday that he commends Griffith’s stance on the race, because in the current political climate anything can happen.
Republicans Dave Moore and Jessee Ring, who are also seeking the nomination, could not be reached for comment Saturday.
Griffith said he doesn’t believe conservative independent candidate Jeremiah Heaton would hurt his chances; he thinks Boucher would lose more votes to Heaton, only because Heaton and Boucher live just a few miles apart in Washington County.
Heaton could not be reached for comment Saturday. On his choice to run against Boucher, Griffith had two things to say.
“One, I don’t think he’s unbeatable,” Griffith said. “Two, I feel very strongly that somebody has to stand up for the people and vote the way the people want him to vote. Washington’s a mess, and one person isn’t going to keep it from being a mess necessarily. But dozens of new people going in to clean up Washington can make a difference.”
With so many congressional seats in play this year, Griffith said, dozens of folks like him might be what Washington gets.
dmccown@bristolnews.com | (276) 791-0701
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