Monday July 31, 2023

NEW DOMINION PODCAST: Joel Griffin |

NEW DOMINION PODCAST

Joel Griffin

You can also listen to this episode by following this Spotify link.

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The State of Local Government in Spotsylvania

Former Texas congressman and Republican Will Hurd caused a stir this week when he turned on former president Donald Trump. Speaking before the Iowa GOP Lincoln Dinner, Hurd said: “Donald Trump is not running to make America great again. Donald Trump is not running for president to represent the people that voted for him in 2016 and 2020. Donald Trump is running to stay out of prison.”

Editor’s Note: Please listen to the entirety of Hurd’s speech - it was not just an assault on Trump; it was largely a visioning of what thoughtful conservative leadership should be.

That has set national media aflutter.

But here in our region, the same tensions that are starting to tear at the national Republican Party fabric are very much at play here in central Virginia.

Revoking endorsements

Last week, the Spotsylvania Republican Party withdrew its endorsement of Clerk of Court candidate Nick Ignacio.

Ignacio has been a lightning rod in Spotsylvania. A prominent member of the Tea Party, he has a long history of boorish, insulting behavior. In 2021, he was forced to leave the offices of the Free Lance-Star.

In 2017, he was identified by the Free Lance-Star as appearing in crude YouTube videos.

Nick Ignacio, who is seeking the Republican nomination for a Fredericksburg-area House of Delegates seat, has appeared in online videos that show him simulating sexual acts and making vulgar remarks.

In addition to these behaviors, the article covered a litany of legal troubles he has faced over the years.

He has also had some brushes with the law that led to misdemeanor charges, but would not discuss those.

Ignacio was supervised by the Alexandria Probation and Parole Office from March 18, 2011, until March 28, 2012, under an interstate compact with Maryland, according to the Virginia Department of Corrections.

He pleaded guilty in Maryland to charges of violating laws governing the possession and handling of firearms there, according to an Accurint background report. The report says he was sentenced to probation before judgment, which is not treated as a conviction and usually results in a dismissal.

An email Friday from Ignacio’s campaign address said “the only thing Nick legally has on his record is speeding.”

His speeding offenses include a misdemeanor reckless driving conviction in 2008 after an officer in Prince William County charged him with driving 100 mph in a 65 mph zone. In addition, he was charged with reckless driving in Fairfax County in 2010 and Brunswick County in 2015, but both citations were reduced to speeding, online court records show.

Ignacio also filed a $2 million lawsuit against the U.S. government, claiming a federal law enforcement officer he worked with threatened him with physical harm. Ignacio was a contracted security officer at the Pentagon at the time.

The lawsuit says Ignacio suffered post-traumatic stress disorder as a result of the federal officer’s actions.

The parties reached an undisclosed settlement in 2012.

And earlier this summer, questioned by F2S regarding the signatures on his petition dated January 1, 2023, which is a day before the deadline published by the Department of Elections, he again displayed that same bombastic behavior.

“I only talk to credible news sources,” he began.

Instead of talking to me about who I am, my candidacy, beliefs, etc., you went immediately to asking silly '“gotcha” stuff. You’re a raging liberal.

He never did address the question - How did he come to understand January 1 as the first day he could collect signatures?

Ignacio has also proven toxic for House Delegate Phillip Scott. Scott endorsed Ignacio earlier this year, but then withdrew that endorsement when people began taking him to task for throwing his support behind this controversial candidate.

Scott has since withdrawn his endorsement and been in damage-control mode as he looks to hold on to his seat. The 88th House District should have been an easy win for the Scott and the Republicans. Now, his embracing extremists like Ignacio has made him vulnerable.

Troubles for Maxwell

At the same time that Ignacio is being booted to the Republican curb, another R is having his own troubles.

Like Ignacio, Steve Maxwell has caught the attention of public officials for a high number of signatures on his Petition of Qualified Voters with a January 1 date. And that’s not his only problem.

He recently received notification that he was in violation of the Hatch Act, which sets strict limits on federal employees’ political activities. F2S has not seen the letter issued to Maxwell regarding his violation, but the organization Veterans for Trump is rushing to defend him.

“At Veterans for Trump national we stand with Steve Maxwell in his fight against the establishment ” said Stan Fitzgerald Veterans for Trump president.

The organization We Love Our Educators has released a video showing Maxwell in an interview claiming innocence, but F2S has not been able to verify that video as of Sunday evening.

Ranking up

The infighting involving Ignacio, the questionable signatures on his and Maxwell’s Petition of Qualified Voters, and Maxwell’s Hatch Act troubles are affecting elections in Spotsylvania. But the mess is seeping out across the county’s borders.

Matt Strickland failed in his attempt to win the Republican nomination to contend in November as the party nominee for the Senate District 27 seat. Tara Durant won that primary going away.

But Strickland has still not conceded the loss, and there is a growing chorus in Spotsylvania to launch as write-in campaign for Strickland in November.

There is no conceivable path to victory for Strickland as a write-in candidate, so this is little more than sour grapes among his supporters. But depending upon the size of the movement to write him in, his actions could create significant issues for Durant.

Coming to its senses?

When Trump became president, much attention was paid to the damage he would do while in office - and there is no shortage of evidence to support that concern.

But the greater damage may well be the movement of the Republican Party from principled conservatism to the unhinged world of conspiracy theories, embracing autocratic ideals, and replacing “alternative facts” for reality.

In small bits and pieces, principled conservatives are finally starting to stand up to the destructive people within the party.

How much distance moderate conservatives are willing to place between themselves and the likes of Ignacio, Maxwell, and Strickland won’t be known until November. But the in-fighting and lying that defines Spotsylvania Republican leaders is clearly taking its toll not only on Democrats, but moderate Republicans and people who understand that America is not about the dominance of one political viewpoint over another, but the co-existence of multiple worldviews in a democratic framework.

Spotsylvania voters have brought this dysfunction on themselves over the past few elections. This November, they have a chance to begun undoing that damage.

And at least some in the Republican Party in Spotsy seem to get that.