UVa law prof grades candidates’ ‘rhetoric’

VSB Council elections set in three circuits

By Paul Fletcher
Published: April 8, 2013
Tags: Elections, Virginia State Bar

The Virginia State Bar will hold circuit elections for representatives to the VSB Council in three circuits this month. In the 5th Circuit in Southside, two candidates – Carl Phillips “Phil” Ferguson and Fred D. Taylor – will vie for the seat currently held by Bill Riddick. In Arlington, the 17th Circuit, four candidates seek [...]

Perriello not running for gov, McAuliffe opens bid

By The Associated Press
Published: December 10, 2012
Tags: Elections

Terry McAuliffe eased into the governor’s race last Wednesday by branding himself as a pro-business pragmatist and his Republican foe as an apostle of “socially divisive issues,” after a potential rival for the Democratic nomination decided not to run. Former Rep. Tom Perriello, a one-term Democratic congressman from Charlottesville and a favorite of his party’s [...]

Martingayle is new VSB president-elect

By Peter Vieth
Published: December 3, 2012
Tags: Elections, Virginia State Bar

Virginia Beach lawyer Kevin E. Martingayle has narrowly won the vote for president-elect of the Virginia State Bar with only one-fifth of the bar casting ballots. Martingayle’s margin of victory over Raymond B. Benzinger of Fairfax was less than 2 percent, according to VSB figures. Virginia lawyers cast 3,072 ballots for Martingayle, compared to 2,955 [...]

Contested election is VSB’s first since ’01

By Peter Vieth
Published: November 9, 2012
Tags: Elections, Virginia State Bar

The national presidential election is over, but there’s another vote yet to cast. Ballots have been mailed to Virginia lawyers in the race for president-elect of the Virginia State Bar, the first such contested election since 2001. Arlington’s Ray Benzinger and Kevin Martingayle of Virginia Beach – both with years of service to the VSB [...]

Eminent domain amendment passes 3-1

By Paul Fletcher
Published: November 7, 2012
Tags: Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli, Elections, Eminent Domain

Virginia voters yesterday approved a constitutional amendment that will limit the government’s ability to take private property through eminent domain. With 99 percent of all precincts voting, the State Board of Elections reported that the referendum passed with 75 percent of the vote. The amendment seeks to ensure that governmental taking of property is for [...]

Judge denies Dems’ request on poll watchers

By The Associated Press
Published: November 5, 2012
Tags: Elections, Fairfax County Circuit Court, Judge Dennis J. Smith

FAIRFAX, Va. (AP) — A judge late Friday rejected a request from Fairfax County Democrats seeking an injunction that would have protected the right of their poll watchers to speak to voters. Fairfax County Circuit Court Judge Dennis Smith rejected the request following a six-hour hearing in which two county election officers testified that the [...]

Voters to weigh property rights question on Nov. 6

By The Associated Press
Published: November 1, 2012
Tags: Elections, Eminent Domain, General Assembly, U.S. Supreme Court

(AP) Backers of a proposed constitutional amendment to limit the government taking of private property are quick to champion the cause of Bob Wilson, a Norfolk military contractor who is intent on keeping his successful business address within a critical couple miles of the world’s largest navy base. Question 1 on the Nov. 6 ballot [...]

No state investigation of alleged election crime

By The Associated Press
Published: October 22, 2012
Tags: Elections

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — The State Board of Elections will not ask the attorney general to investigate the case of a Republican operative accused of throwing eight completed voter registration forms in the trash, a board official said Friday. State Sen. Donald McEachin of Henrico County, chairman of the Senate Democratic Caucus, called for an [...]

On TV, Kaine, Allen clash anew on money issues

By The Associated Press
Published: October 9, 2012
Tags: Elections

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Democrat Tim Kaine and Republican George Allen drew sharper contrasts Monday between themselves in a televised primetime U.S. Senate debate on the issues of entitlements seniors have paid all their lives, with Allen backing higher retirement age and Kaine promising to protect Social Security “to my last breath.” The fourth of [...]