Byrne Considers Challenging Moran (VA-8)

The Washington Post ^ | 3/13/03 | R.H. Melton

[LdSentinal]

State Sen. Leslie L. Byrne (Fairfax) said yesterday that she may challenge U.S. Rep. James P. Moran Jr. for the 2004 Democratic nomination in Virginia's 8th District, the most visible sign of what party leaders say is Moran's precarious political position after he suggested that Jews were pushing the nation into war with Iraq.

As the bipartisan furor over Moran's remarks continued on Capitol Hill, with six Jewish House colleagues urging him to leave Congress at the end of his current term, Byrne emerged as the most vocal of several Northern Virginia Democrats itching for the opportunity to challenge the seven-term incumbent from Alexandria.

[fieldmarshaldj]

Oh, great... Replacing an anti-Semitic Moron with an even more Socialist Moron. Byrne was a one-term blunder before she was beaten for a 2nd term by Tom Davis in '94. I can't believe the VA GOP legislature didn't draw in Moran's and Davis's districts together (where Davis would've prevailed) and created a new GOP district entirely.

[Gopher Broke]

Isn't Byrne a strong RINO??? Can't we find a better candidate that her?

[fieldmarshaldj]

No, Byrne is a 'Rat. There's no mention of any Republicans challenging Moron, er, Moran.

[MP5]

I thought it might be David Byrne of the "Talking Heads"

[Corin Stormhands]

I can't believe the VA GOP legislature didn't draw in Moran's and Davis's districts together (where Davis would've prevailed) and created a new GOP district entirely.

They did a pretty good job of giving us 9 out of 11 seats. And they did manage to re-district Byrne out of her Senate seat.

[DownWithGreenspan]

8 out of 11: Rats hold the Richmond ghetto seat, Moran's inside-the-beltway seat, and don't forget faux-"moderate" rat Rick Boucher in the 9th district (SW Virginia).

IIRC, there was talk about radically altering Boucher's district and having Ollie North run in it, but that didn't happen, and even a decent candidate like Jay Katzen couldn't come close to knocking off Boucher. Sadly, this seat is Boucher's until he retires or drops dead.

DWG

[Corin Stormhands]

8 out of 11: Rats hold the Richmond ghetto seat, Moran's inside-the-beltway seat, and don't forget faux-"moderate" rat Rick Boucher in the 9th district (SW Virginia).

Doh! That's my home district! I worked on an early race against Boucher that came as close as anyone in beating him. I guess it's a repressed memory.

I'm just amazed Boucher's been able to stay in the closet for so long.

[fieldmarshaldj]

We should hold 10 of 11 seats in the state, with the lone exception of Bobby Scott's (though if we were allowed to great creative, I'm sure we could get rid of that one, too). There hasn't been a close race in the 9th since Boucher knocked off Bill Wampler in '82. Perhaps Wampler's son, named after him and a State Senator, could take him down ? I always like to think that the 9th should be like Tennessee's 1st, which hasn't sent a 'Rat to Congress in 130 years, but acts more like Baja West Virginia...

[Corin Stormhands]

There hasn't been a close race in the 9th since Boucher knocked off Bill Wampler in '82.

There's been one. In the '84 race, Delegate Jeff Stafford came within under 2,000 votes (in a record turnout year) of beating Boucher. Stafford lost with more votes than any previous winning candidate had ever received. But the the unions delivered the votes Boucher needed in the coal counties.

[muawiyah]

Byrne is well-known for being anti-Asian-American and anti-Cuban. She and her husband are very close friends and political confidants of Jim Moran anyway.

No doubt we can expect an equal measure of anti-semitism out of Leslie.

(BTW, do not mistake this Byrne woman for a socialist - she is a through and through totalitarian who would enjoy tossing Jewish babies directly into the ovens).

[fieldmarshaldj]

"There's been one. In the '84 race, Delegate Jeff Stafford came within under 2,000 votes (in a record turnout year) of beating Boucher. Stafford lost with more votes than any previous winning candidate had ever received. But the the unions delivered the votes Boucher needed in the coal counties."

It was wider than that, Boucher beat Stafford 102,446 to 94,510 (52-48%). Bill Wampler got 119,196 votes in his final winning contest in 1980, a bit more than Stafford !

[fieldmarshaldj]

Being a 'Rat means you must be anti-Cuban, of course... But she sounds like a perfect successor for the trash the 8th sends across the Potomac...

[Corin Stormhands]

Okay, so after 19 years, my math is fuzzy. But the fact is Stafford is the only one to ever come that close.

The percentage numbers you post look right, but the vote tallies don't. I'm probably wrong, but what was your source for the numbers? I would almost swear Stafford got more than 100,000 votes.

Of course I consumed a great deal of Virginia Gentleman that night. When the results from the coal counties started coming in, I ditched the water and ice...

[fieldmarshaldj]

"Okay, so after 19 years, my math is fuzzy. But the fact is Stafford is the only one to ever come that close."

Don't get me wrong - your guy should've won. Hell, there should've been a ton of seats we should've picked up in '84, but didn't.

"The percentage numbers you post look right, but the vote tallies don't. I'm probably wrong, but what was your source for the numbers? I would almost swear Stafford got more than 100,000 votes."

Went back and double checked. Both the 1986 Almanac of American Politics and the Clerk of the U.S. House official election results for 1984 mesh with my numbers.

"Of course I consumed a great deal of Virginia Gentleman that night. When the results from the coal counties started coming in, I ditched the water and ice..."

I completely sympathize with you... :-)

[Corin Stormhands]

Don't get me wrong - your guy should've won.

Yeah. He should have. We lost him in 1990 to pancreatic cancer.