VA-05: On Monday, the 5th District Republican Committee announced that its nominating convention, which is being held instead of a primary, would take place on June 13. The convention, which had originally been planned for late April, was indefinitely postponed as the coronavirus pandemic worsened, but party leaders are trying to ensure that the date won’t move again. The Roanoke Times’ Amy Friedenberger reports that delegates will drive to the Tree of Life Ministries church and cast their ballots from their cars.
The GOP contest for this 53-42 Trump seat pits freshman Rep. Denver Riggleman against Campbell County Supervisor Bob Good, a former athletics official at Jerry Falwell Jr.’s Liberty University, and there’s good reason to think the new congressman is in for a tough time. Riggleman infuriated plenty of social conservatives at home in July when he officiated a same-sex wedding between two of his former campaign volunteers. This quickly resulted in a homophobic backlash against him, and local Republican Parties in three small 5th District counties each passed anti-Riggleman motions.
Riggleman also has not done anything to hide how unhappy he is that his fate will be in the hands of about 3,500 convention delegates rather than primary voters. The congressman told Roll Call’s Stephanie Akin back in March that he wanted a primary instead of “a convoluted convention process that is collapsing under the weight of this crisis.” Friedenberger also writes that Riggleman and his allies unsuccessfully tried to convince 5th District party leaders to file a lawsuit to require the state to manage its nomination contest on June 23, the same day that the state’s primary will take place. It also hasn’t escaped anyone’s notice that Tree of Life Ministries, where the convention is taking place, is Good’s church.
Democrats, by contrast, opted to hold a traditional primary on June 23. This seat, which includes Charlottesville and south-central Virginia, is tough turf for Team Blue, but a Riggleman defeat next month could give Democrats a larger opening.