I have added a badge to the hallowed right-hand column: Jeff Frederick for the 36th State Senate District. I added his name to the list for several reasons.
First, Frederick represented much of the Prince William piece of the 36th for six years as the 52nd District Delegate from 2004 to 2009. During those years he showed himself an able legislator – opposing the HB3202 fiasco and any other tax increases that came down the pike. As he was doing so, he was also getting elected and re-elected in a district very friendly to Democrats (in 2005, he was the only Republican on the ballot to carry his district – yes, even Leslie Byrne won the 52nd). It is that kind of cross-over appeal and history that is desperately needed in the 36th this fall.
Secondly, and I know this will start the critics flooding my comment section in 3 . . . 2 . . . 1 . . . but as Party Chairman, Jeff Frederick made it clear in that all-important summer of 2008 that any attempt to bring back the tax-hikes of HB3202 would not be acceptable in the party. Without Frederick’s stand, the GOP doesn’t begin its recovery from its tax-addicted days, and it most certainly doesn’t have the sweep of 2009. Whatever Frederick’s mistakes as Party Chairman, it was he that established the party once again as the place for opponents of tax increases in this spendthrift time.
I would ask all looking at this race to remember what it is: an election for the 36th State Senate District. Jeff Frederick’s record as a Delegate – and his policy stand as Party Chair – make clear he is the Republican with the best chance to win over independents and Democrats in November, and more importantly, he is the best candidate period to represent the 36th.
