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Weir to challenge Stewart in GOP primary
While Board of County Supervisors chairman Corey Stewart (R) has openly toyed with the idea of running for U.S. Senate in 2012 after seeking re-election to his current post in 2011, his pathway to Congress just received an extra roadblock this week.
Haymarket Town Councilmember Bob Weir announced his intention to challenge Stewart in the Republican primary for chairman on Tuesday, having already filed a declaration of candidacy with the county government.
Weir is challenging Stewart on several issues. He's accused Stewart of "shilling for the development industry," being bought out by special interest groups, being secretive and spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on issues related to illegal immigration while making cuts to a senior center.
"I'm really unhappy with the way the county's operating and I lay most of the blame on the county leadership, on the chair," said Weir.
Stewart shrugged off what is likely to be a long-shot challenge.
“There are always going to be people who are unhappy about something,” he said, noting that Weir is “somone who is a very angry person.”
Record
The town council veteran who works in trademark law is known for sending long missives to the county government, often laying out the case for why the county should not approve more residential developments near Haymarket's borders. A stickler for procedure, Weir's reputation is that of a well-researched firebrand known equally for his temper and his attention to detail.
Weir offers his candidacy having a checkered record of his own when it comes to service. He temporarily quit in 2008 after a dispute with the town over transparency, only to rejoin after he became incensed at the county for approving two residential developments south of the town's borders. Following that vote, the town council voted to reject Weir's resignation.
He then said he would not run for re-election, but did anyway. The same thing happened in 2010 when he filed at the 11th hour despite saying he would not run again.
A father and a husband, Weir's acted as the town's unofficial liaison to the county for years and the official liaison to the town's planning commission for different stints.
Weir voted against implementing a 4-percent meals tax on the town, one of only two members of the town council to do so. Revenue generated from the tax is designed to fund the town's Street Scape project and annually brings in hundreds of thousands of dollars. However, it's also been used in part to fund capital improvement projects.
The council member also voted against at least two budgets that he can remember, he said. And he stood out as the constant lone vote against developer Gerry Kennedy's $2.3 million offer to convert the Haymarket Town Center property into a series of small businesses while also restoring four historic properties from around town.
During the last three years, Weir ripped apart nearly every aspect of Kennedy's proposal from its concept to implementation. Kennedy first pulled his offer after clashing with Weir during a dispute in the planning commission.
Though Kennedy remade his offer and the town approved it on a 5-1 vote, he has been unable to secure a financial backer despite multiple claims that he was within days of doing so during the last year.
"I was right. Simple answer. I think I called this one right down the line from day one," Weir said. "As far as I'm concerned, I predicted every step of this, that it wouldn't work ... And every damn one of them has come to fruition. I did the homework on that one."
Though Weir's candidacy centers around fiscal management, Stewart will be able to counter that under his leadership, the county has received a AAA bond rating, the highest rating possible from creditors. That rating allows the county to receive the best rates on loans.
"I seriously question the validity of the AAA bond rating," said Weir.
He attacked the notion that the reason the county is at a AAA rating is because of its ability to raise taxes if necessarily to pay off general obligation bonds. Doing so while the economy "continues to tank" and the real estate mark is down would hurt county taxpayers more, Weir argued.
"Where does that leave you as far as your ability to retain debt to revenue?" he asked.
Politics
Weir's challenge comes as a bit of a surprise, especially given his attitude to serving in a position associated with public appearances and happy talk.
"Do I have the tools? Yeah. Do I necessarily want to do it? No," said Weir. "Find me a better candidate, and I'll pull out. Find me an acceptable candidate, and I'll pull out."
Weir has several political hurdles he'll need to overcome if he is to actually win more than 50 percent of the convention delegates. The first is fundraising. Weir said he will not accept donations from political action committees or corporations, unlike Stewart.
According to the Virginia Public Access Project, which tracks campaign contributions, Stewart has raised $169,973 for his re-election run so far. To put that in perspective, incumbent candidates from specific districts have raised between $10,000 and $59,000 for their runs.
Next comes name identification. Stewart ran and won countywide in 2006 and 2007 and his hardline stance on illegal immigration made him particularly popular among conservatives who dominate GOP primaries. He briefly considered running for lieutenant governor in 2009 and even paid $2,500 to Cox Consulting Inc. in 2008.
Weir said he did not plan on hiring consultants to help him prepare his bid, saying he already has an election strategy.
Though Weir said he is running as a fiscally conservative alternative to Stewart, that's a similar message as the one John Gray presented at the Republican convention in 2006 when he challenged Stewart. Stewart won the Republican primary overwhelmingly.
Gray is running for chairman this year as an independent. Planning commissioner Gary Friedman is seeking the Democratic nomination.
In order to win, Weir will first need to cobble together supporters from roughly three sectors of the Republican electorate. The most obvious would be supporters of former chairman Sean Connaughton (R), who is now the Virginia secretary of transportation.
If that happened, it would be despite the fact that Weir has eschewed Connaughton's record, particularly on growth. Connaughton's supporters tend to be more moderate Republicans and, while they may not agree with Weir, may want Stewart out of office more than they necessarily want Weir in.
Stewart and Connaughton clashed frequently during their shared time on the board from 2004 until Connaughton's appointment by former President George W. Bush to head up the U.S. Maritime Administration in 2006.
Though Stewart has since said that the two have patched things up since Stewart took over, there are still some lingering rifts among party loyalists.
Second, Weir's western Prince William base will need to show up at the convention big-time. That could be made difficult if Stewart's closest ally on the board, Gainesville District Supervisor John Stirrup (R), offers Stewart a full-throated endorsement and actively campaigns for him.
Weir claims to have connections throughout the county and essentially argued he will not need to bank on Republican-heavy Haymarket alone to propel him to the nomination. The actual breadth of his support, however, remains to be seen.
Lastly, Weir needs disaffected conservatives upset with Stewart about ongoing growth. For instance, Weir called out Stewart for speaking against developer Brookfield Homes during his first run for chairman but then later supporting the company's bid to develop up to 295 houses at the Avendale subdivision in the Rural Crescent.
The town councilmember also said Stewart is misguided in blaming the state for not building roads that the county ultimately built itself. He specifically cited the Linton Hall Road Corridor. The county footed the bill for road improvements, but only after the county approved hundreds of houses that were built first.
"You counted on the state coming to your rescue and they didn't come riding in on their white horse," said Weir. "That's the go-to card for this board, that it somebody else's fault."
The face
For his part, Stewart said he doesn't know Weir well.
“I just know that he tends to be something of a hothead,” he said.
Stewart and Weir have obvious stylistic differences. Stewart, the younger of the two, is prone to making national television appearances, particularly when discussing illegal immigration on Fox News. He's a mainstay on local television and radio and he has run family-values-oriented campaigns.
"There's a difference between being the face of the county and the manager of the county," said Weir, highlighting what he called "sane fiscal management.
"I drink, I smoke, I curse. Corey drinks, Corey curses. What's the difference except that I don't kiss babies and I don't cut ribbons?" said Weir.
He then derided Stewart for raising his public profile while presiding over county meetings.
"I'm certainly not going to call a press conference in the middle of a county meeting when there's work to be done," said Weir. "What the hell kind of leadership is that?"
- Editor Tara Slate Donaldson contributed to this story.
Go Bob Go!
The Prince William County Chairman has done a poor job leading Prince William. He's been more concerned with putting himself center stage, and, frankly citizens are tired of his self-serving grandstanding. Stewart abandoned PWC and has been campaigning for 'higher' office at taxpayers' expense. I, for one am sick and tired of it.
Posted by maryb
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