As I noted yesterday, former Governor Jim Gilmore eked out a close victory over Bob Marshall to earn the Republican nomination for Virginia’s open Senate seat:
RICHMOND, May 31 — By a paper-thin margin, former Virginia governor James S. Gilmore III captured the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate on Saturday at a state party convention here that exposed some GOP doubts about Gilmore and highlighted the influence of social conservatives.
Gilmore defeated Del. Robert G. Marshall, a staunch opponent of abortion rights making his first bid for statewide office, by about 70 votes out of 10,378 cast. The margin was less than one percentage point.
Despite outspending his rival by more than 8 to 1, Gilmore was nearly upset by a coalition of antiabortion and anti-tax activists, libertarians and some moderate Republicans from Northern Virginia who backed Marshall
That fight spilled over into the race for RPV Chairman, where Jeff Fredrick managed to get the win:
Many in that coalition banded together later in the day to help Del. Jeffrey M. Frederick (Prince William) oust former lieutenant governor John H. Hager as chairman of the state party. Frederick, 32, campaigned as a younger, more conservative alternative. Hager, 72, is Jenna Bush’s father-in-law.
Now, it’s on to November and a fight against Mark Warner that, to say the least, is going to be an uphill battle.
June 1st, 2008 at 5:50 pm
Eeked out is right. The weighted vote was approximately 60 votes out of 10,000. This translates to about 4 or 5 delegates…