Democrats in the Brentsville District have found themselves without a candidate for supervisor as the Prince William Democratic Committee has decided to forgo the Brentsville election.
Prince William Democrat Committee Chairman Harry Wiggins said they plan to focus on other efforts where they believe they have a better chance of winning; this is with the Republican mass meeting tentatively scheduled for the beginning of next month.
Don Shaw was originally running as Brentsville’s Democratic candidate but decided to drop out of the race in late July to pursue a seat in the Virginia House of Delegates instead. Specifically, Shaw plans to run against incumbent Republican Bob Marshall in the November 2015 election.
“After having given the situation a lot of thought, I have decided I can make a greater impact in Richmond by working to advance responsible economic legislation and mainstream social policies in the General Assembly. I look forward to serving the constituents of the 13th House District," Shaw told Bristow Beat in July.
According to Wiggins, Shaw has a better chance at becoming Delegate of the 13th District than he had of becoming the next Brentsville Supervisor.
Wiggins believes it is unlikely that any Democrat stands a real chance in Brentsville district. He notes that even Tim Kaine lost in Brentsville back in 2012 when he ran for the United States Senate.
“Tim Kaine won three precincts in Brentsville. He was strictly popular and won the county overwhelmingly,” Wiggins said.
Thus knowing the Brentsville district leans heavily Republican, Wiggins believes it is not a sound strategy to focus too much time, energy or money on running a Democrat there.
“What is the point of putting in the money and the resources? We are going to our resources where we can win,” Wiggins said.
However, he does believe that Shaw can take on Marshall in the 13th District in 2015, noting that Atif Qarni came close in 2013.
“It was the closest election Marshall’s ever had,” Wiggins said.
Now that Qarni has announced his plans to pursue the 29th State Senate District seat, Wiggins feels confident about having Shaw take his place on the ballot for the 13th District, saying Shaw has the right background and experience.
Wiggins also believes Shaw can gain those Republican voters who take issue with Marshall, finding him too conservative or too religious as some of Marshall’s key issues are highly divisive.
On social issues, the candidates are markedly different. Marshall continues to fight for Virginia to define marriage as between one man and one woman, and stated that homosexual marriage rejects "The Law's of Nature and Nature's God."
Meanwhile, Shaw is liberal leaning on issues of social equality. However, he also frames himself as fiscally conservative, something Republicans like. He notes his experience in the Federal Government as an Enterprise Architect. In that position, he had the responsibility of working to limit government spending while also implementing low-range planning.
While no one is underestimating Marshall, Wiggins feels that the 13th District is a more even playing field than Shaw would find in Brentsville.
However, Wiggins does not want Prince William residents to think that the Democrats are giving up without a fight. Rather, Wiggins has what he calls a “four-and-four” plan.
“Our goal is 'four and four'- four on the School Board and four on the Board of County Supervisors,” Wiggins said.
Thus, it seems the Democrats are simply choosing their battles. So while they choose not to compete in Brentsville, they hope to challenge whoever wins the Brentsville seat in the coming years by having enough Democrats sitting beside the new Brentsville supervisor on the dais to challenge him or her on issues important to the party.
However, as a result of the Democratic party choosing not to run a candidate, the general election in Brentsville will likely go to whomever wins the vote of the Republican mass meeting. Republicans know this and are focusing their efforts to get voters out to the mass meeting to choose their next supervisor.
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