Jeanine Lawson has been officially named the sole qualifying Republican candidate for Brentsville District Supervisor after the Prince William Republican Committee disqualified Republican primary candidate Scott Jacobs for not submitting his paperwork on time.
"The Prince William County Republican Committee today announced that its Brentsville Mass Meeting ‘Nominations Committee’ will report at the Wednesday Mass Meeting that Jeanine Lawson is the sole qualified candidate," said a statement released by the Prince William Republican Committee. The Mass Meeting election is to determine a Republican nominee for the Brentsville Supervisor special election to replace Wally Covington.
“The Brentsville Special Election Republican Mass Meeting Nominations Committee has met and determined that Jeanine Lawson is the only person who officially qualified to be a candidate,” said Nominations Committee Chairman Lyle Beefelt. “The unanimous decision has been properly scrutinized by election experts and attorneys, and we are satisfied that our rules have been followed and the integrity of the process has been respected.”
According to the Republican Call for this Mass Meeting, any person seeking the Republican nomination must closely follow the instructions for filing as a candidate. According to the Committee, The specific language is as follows: “Any person who desires to seek the Republican nomination for the Brentville District Supervisor, Prince William County, VA must submit a written statement to that effect, along with a non-refundable filing fee of $895.00 (Eight Hundred ninety five dollars and no cents), to the Temporary Nominations Committee, at Prince William County Republican Committee, Attn: Nominations, P.O. Box 1955, Manassas, VA 20108-0806, postmarked on or before September 24th, 2014.”
The Brentsville Special Election Republican Mass Meeting Nominations Committee, led by Lyle Beefelt, met on Sunday to evaluate the filing procedures of interested persons and determine the official nominees. The Nominations Committee voted unanimously that Jeanine Lawson was the only person to properly file to be a candidate for the Meeting.
The Brentsville Supervisor vacancy is the result of Wally Covington being nominated to be a judge by the Virginia General Assembly on September 18, 2014 and begins service on December 1, 2014. To prepare for the widely expected nomination, the Prince William County Republican Committee began to plan for a special election nomination process this past summer. On June 23, 2014, during the Committee’s regular monthly meeting, Committee Members voted to have a Mass Meeting nomination election by plurality vote at Patriot High School on the second Tuesday or Wednesday (at 8:15pm) following the judgeship announcement.
On Friday, September 19, Prince William County Republican Chairman Bill Card sent out an official “Call” for the Brentsville Mass Meeting, which named the date of the Mass Meeting, and outline nomination details and instructions for qualifying as a candidate. A copy of the “Call” language is displayed on the website HERE.
In a statement on his Facebook page, Scott Jacobs for Brentsville Supervisor, Jacobs took issue with how the Republican Committee handled the process, and his spokesperson, campaign manager Mike Williams, called it a "move by party insiders."
Jacobs has not been disqualified as a candidate in the Special Election to elect the next Brentsville District Supervisor on December 23, and he may still be able to run as an independent candidate. Diana Dutton of the Prince William Board of Elections said those at her office knew nothing about the disqualification.
Those Brentsville registered voters who are interested and who follow all Republican procedures to qualify to vote, can still attend and vote in the Mass Meeting; however, Lawson will be the only candidate running.
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