After his first year in office, U.S. Rep. Morgan Griffith is praised by fellow Republicans for his work on issues the party champions in Washington, D.C., though he retains some critics in Virginia’s 9th District.
All told, he’s expected to easily win a second term this November.
Fellow Republicans say Griffith, who unseated a 28-year incumbent in the 2010 election, hit the ground running.
“A lot of freshmen will sit on the back bench and not make waves,” said Garren Shipley, spokesman for the Republican Party of Virginia. “Morgan hasn’t been afraid to jump up and tackle the difficult issues.”
The highlights, said Shipley, have been Griffith’s work to combat onerous new environmental regulations on air emissions from boilers and his effort to keep the taxpayers from losing any more money in the Solyndra scandal.
During his first year, Griffith has gotten into the details of the Boiler MACT [maximum achievable control technology] Rule, sharing specific examples of businesses in the 9th District that would be harmed by the new environmental regulations.
On a mind-numbingly technical issue – but one that has an impact in a largely coal-fired district – Griffith has been at the forefront of a legislative effort to limit the rule’s impact.
He’s also been outspoken on the need to hold the administration accountable for the hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars put into Solyndra, a short-lived company that went belly-up in 2011 after being used as an example of the future in green jobs.
“He’s been a major plus to our side of the aisle for sure,” said U.S. Rep. Phil Roe, R-1st, Griffith’s colleague from Northeast Tennessee, who said he’s seen as a hard-working congressman who’s strong on energy and spending issues.
Shipley said he believes Griffith has also given the necessary attention to constituent services and is balancing that well with his work in Washington.
“Morgan has just been a model first-term congressman, and we’re really thrilled to death with what he’s been doing,” Shipley added.
District view
State Sen. Phillip Puckett, a Democrat from Lebanon, said Griffith, previously a long-serving member of the Virginia House of Delegates, is working with state legislators from his district on federal issues.
In particular, he said, they’re working with him on a mining permit issue that’s holding up an airport expansion project in Buchanan County.
“What you learn in the Southwest is once the election’s over, it’s hard to be political,” Puckett said. “You’ve got to try to work with whoever’s there, and we’re trying to do that, and I’m sure Morgan’s trying to do that because that’s in his best interest.”
At the same time, Puckett said, Griffith’s absence from the western part of the district has been noticed.
“I’d like to see him personally in the Southwest a bit more,” Puckett said. “Having a congressman [who] lives in Salem is a little bit different from having one that lives in Abingdon, and I think our people are a little bit disappointed that they don’t see him more.”
Jeremiah Heaton, the conservative independent who challenged Griffith along with incumbent Democrat Rick Boucher in the 2010 election, also criticized Griffith for not spending enough time in the far Southwest – and took the opportunity to point out that, with the slow redistricting process, Griffith’s home is still outside the 9th District.
He said people in Glade Spring and Washington County were particularly disappointed with what they considered a minimal presence there after last spring’s destructive tornadoes and believe that may have prevented them from receiving federal disaster aid.
“He showed up on the scene and then walked around and then disappeared again,” Heaton said. “It seems his visit to Glade is very much a punctuation on how he has treated this entire part of the district: He makes an appearance, and he disappears, and that is something that we are unaccustomed to.”
Heaton, who works as an underground coal miner, said he’s exploring the possibility of seeking the Democratic nomination to challenge Griffith in this year’s election. So far, no high-profile Democratic challenger has emerged.
Walking the line
Brian Coy, spokesman for the Democratic Party of Virginia, shares a predictable view: Democrats aren’t particularly happy with Griffith’s record in his first year.
“I think what happened is he took office and then basically immediately became a tea party congressman first and a congressman for Southwest Virginia second, and you can see it in his votes,” Coy said.
In particular, he said Griffith’s vote in favor of the budget proposed by fellow Congressman Paul Ryan, a Republican from Wisconsin, was a vote against the average people in his district.
“Among other things, that was a vote that balances the budget on the back of the middle class, especially who receive Medicare or will receive Medicare,” he said. “I would totally understand why the Republican Party thinks he’s great because he’s doing their bidding … but the priorities of the Republican Party are not often if ever in line with the priorities of middle-class Virginians.”
Griffith has also caught criticism from the other side, with tea party activists saying he hasn’t done enough to tackle the nation’s $15 trillion debt or openly address Agenda 21, a United Nations plan that many tea partiers blame for a broad variety of environmental rules and other policy decisions that they consider to be affronts to liberty.
Cathy Turner, a tea party activist in far Southwest Virginia, said she also has a more immediate concern: Griffith’s failure to follow up on a campaign-season pledge to grant personal access to tea party groups in his district. She said the groups have been asking for months for a meeting with the congressman but have been consistently put off.
“He is riding the coattails of the Republican establishment,” Turner said.
Looking forward
Geoff Skelley, political analyst at the University of Virginia’s Center for Politics, said Griffith is viewed as more partisan than his predecessor – and also more focused on national issues.
In the current environment, he said, neither is necessarily a bad thing.
“Even if he is focusing on national issues more than district ones … I think he’s doing it in a way that his district will be OK with, especially on environmental-related things,” Skelley said. “I would say he’s generally towed the [party] line, but he’s been willing to join in with the tea party caucus on voting against certain things they oppose.”
In general, Skelley said, Griffith votes along with the sentiments of his conservative district in a hyper-partisan political atmosphere.
“The nature of politics has moved in a direction where … people are thinking more about politics at a national level, even on local issues,” he said. “If he keeps doing what he’s doing, I expect he’ll hold onto that seat for a while.”
Skelley said the appearance of a slow response to a crisis in the district is something voters will typically forgive once – especially when they see other reasons to vote for a candidate.
“There’s not a challenger out there waiting to take him on,” Skelley said, “and with the political dynamic of that district it’s hard to see a Republican incumbent losing.”
dmccown@bristolnews.com
(276) 791-0701
Q&A with Congressman Morgan Griffith
What have you accomplished during your first year in office?
Griffith: “I really believe that we made a big difference on boiler MACT [environmental regulation of industrial boilers]…. We’ve got lots of stuff we’re working on, but mainly it’s stopping the onslaught of new rules and regulations. … We have been on the front lines working extremely hard to make sure that we create an environment where people can expand jobs and hopefully bring some new industries into the area.”
What mistakes have you made, and what have you learned?”
Griffith: “We’ve all made mistakes. I try to move forward.”
How does it help the 9th District when you make progress on national issues?
Griffith: “The national policies of Barack Obama and his administration have had a negative impact on jobs in the 9th District of Virginia. Everything I can do to fight those policies which directly attack one of our few remaining industry areas, I’m going to do it and it’s going to affect our district in a major positive way long-term.”
In what way are you doing a better job than your predecessor?
Griffith: “Everybody has a different style and different personality. The right style and the right personality in 2010 the voters determined was my style and aggressive fight for the hard-working taxpayers of the 9th District and the United States of America. I hope that’s what I’m doing.”
What are your specific plans for the coming year?
Griffith: “We’re going to continue to fight against the Obama administration and EPA [Environmental Protection Agency], we’re going to work to make sure that we don’t have our health care system destroyed by ObamaCare.”
You’ve often spoken about how the rules for how a legislative body operates shape how policy is made. What’s your take on how Congress works?
Griffith: “If the system is working properly, then the voice of the voters will be heard through that system. The system is not working properly, and a small handful of folks can jam up the whole process. … If a rules guy like me who loves to read this stuff finds it isn’t working the way it’s supposed to and it doesn’t make sense, no wonder the American public doesn’t understand what we’re doing. … I’m going to have a whole package [of improvements] ready when the time is right to roll it out.”
Email
Facebook
Google
Twitter
Favorites
More
Advertisement