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Kopko Vs. Nohe
By Greg L | 4 March 2007 | Prince William County | 17 Comments
Current Prince William County Republican Chairman Tom Kopko will likely announce his candidacy for the Republican nomination for Coles Supervisor this week. The seat is currently held by Republican Marty Nohe who in 2003 crushed Democrat Vic Bras with 59% of the vote. While Tom is well regarded in the committee as a hard working, strong and pugnacious controlled-growth conservative, Marty is a well-liked legislator and gifted campaigner who has pursued practical solutions and has achieved broad support across the political spectrum. It is certain to be a bloody primary battle, with far-reaching implications for not only the board of supervisors, but the county party as well. In a nutshell, this is the big-tent versus ideological conservative battle that was deferred when Maureen Caddigan couldn’t reach a timely decision about running for county chairman last year.
It seems that Kopko has little choice but to run a negative campaign against perceived weaknesses in Nohe’s voting record if he is to mount a serious challenge. Kopko supporters claim that Nohe’s voting record aligns more closely with Hilda Barg than with Corey Stewart, and that does provide an opening. Backed by some strong partisans from the county committee, Kopko has a ready-made force of volunteers who are likely to be stripped away from their current efforts in support of Faisal Gill and be employed in this more potentially productive race. The connections that a county chairman has the opportunity to develop might also bring in a credible amount of campaign contributions, making this a serious challenge.
On the other hand Marty Nohe is a terrific campaigner with solid fundraising credentials, someone who benefits well from a primary as a means of nomination, and who I’m sure can speak about how difficult it is to apply strict ideological arguments to the practical business of land use planning and zoning decisions. He has his own fiercely loyal campaign organization, plenty of political allies, and in a nasty fight I’m sure will be able to stand toe-to-toe with anyone. In addition there’s not broad support for this primary challenge, and Nohe thus has the opportunity to not go negative and keep the higher ground, which will probably resonate well with the voters. Although this is a serious challenge, Marty is in the stronger position, at least before the battle begins.
The outcome of this race has significant long-term implications for county Republicans. This in many ways is Corey Stewart’s bid to consolidate power in the Board of County Supervisors, and continue clearing the remaining Connaughton moderates from their positions. If Kopko wins, Stewart is unquestionably in the driver’s seat and will be well positioned at some time in the future for higher office. If Nohe wins, he becomes the successor for more of a “big tent” philosophy and gains the credentials he may use in the future to make a bid as a consensus-building Republican who will have long-term viability in Northern Virginia politics.
I know and like both of these men, and am disappointed that we will face a choice where only one of them will be chosen. Both bring important strengths and valuable perspectives to the politics of the county. I like Kopko’s devotion to an unapologetic conservative philosophy, and like Nohe’s detailed understanding of local issues and his ability to find practical solutions to difficult problems where absolutist positions are not always an effective approach. Both of these men should have a place in discussions about the county’s future, but unfortunately only one will win this race. It also doesn’t help that the PWCRC will once again lose it’s chairman at the outset of an election season which will present a whole other set of challenges.
It may not be the battle I want to see, but I understand that it was in some form or fashion pretty much inevitable. This is going to complicate Republican politics in Prince William County tremendously, though.
UPDATE: Two days after this post ran, Too Conservative published “BREAKING: KOPKO TO CHALLENGE NOHE“. It’s almost as funny that TC thinks a two day old story is “breaking news” as the Associated Press coming up with it’s own “breaking” story that Vince Callahan is going to retire two days after NLS posts on it. I guess “breaking” doesn’t mean what it used to.
The opinions expressed here are solely the views of the author, and not representative of the position of any organization, political party, doughnut shop, knitting guild, or waste recycling facility, but may be correctly attributed to the Vast Right-Wing Conspiracy. If anything in the above article has offended you, please click here to receive an immediate apology.
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I am still strongly urging Kopko to remain in his position because he is a good chair. I don’t have a problem with a healthy primary challenge, and Tom is a good guy, but I wish he’d stay chair.
I never consider accurate quotes of people, or accurate reports of their voting record, to be “negative campaigning”. Democrats regularly decry a campaign as negative if you actually quote what they say or report how they voted, but that doesn’t make it negative.
I know that Greg here doesn’t mind negative campaigning, having run multiple negative articles (of the sort Greg says would be negative) on a candidate who hasn’t even announced yet, plus some truly negative articles like one attacking that candidate for his weight and another suggesting he personally called for Jihad, among others.
But I hope we can avoid name-calling. If Nohe’s voting record aligns with Hilda Bargs voting record, it would be hard to support a republican against her “lousy record” but defend Nohe for the same record.
I’m not saying their records are the same, I’m just playing off the post Greg made above. My point is that we have to be true to our principles, and support the candidate that best represents our policies and philosophies, at least in primaries. In the general election, vote for the best candidate — which I can’t imagine being a democrat against EITHER Kopko or Nohe.
Whatever happens, I hope whatever primaries happen either for this or the delegate seats can rise above the personal attacks and namecalling and dredging up of old discredited charges, and focus on the future of our county and our commonwealth.
[…] by Riley, Not O’Reilly in Prince William County Politics, 2007 Elections. trackback Greg L. is breaking the news that we’ve long expected to hear that PWC GOP Chairman Tom Kopko is planning to challenge […]
Now is the time to improve the efficiency of Government, lower the budget but for good not just until next year, or the year after.
Prince William is the only county in Northern VA that is building it’s own roads, why?
We waste financial resources on senior programs that operate at only 30% capacity.
Our IT department provides free web development, hosting, hardware and computer support to non-profits at their discretion.
Our Economic Development Department has become nothing more than an expensive real estate brokerage office with the highest paid Director in NoVA.
Our police department is understaffed, crime continues to grow, multiple families are living in one home with bunk beds in the living room and extension cords running from the house to a backyard shed were more family members stay.
Corey Stewart fought against the lofty budget that resulted in a 18 million dollar budget devicit. And he was right! Marty voted for it.
Our homes are dropping in value, the roadways over burdened because of irresponsible residential developments.
And we still don’t have a MORTONS STEAKHOUSE!
What we got was quantity and it’s time to put our foot down and demand QUALITY! Quality of Life.
Open space is at a premium and our community is already underserved when measuring and comparing regional standards of the number of residents to public park space.
Residential property taxes make up too great of a percentage of the counties revenue which further increases the risk of a budget deficit.
What has the county been doing the last 3-4 years to attract businesses outside of Innovation?
It’s time for change, time to take a fiscally conservative approach to the county budget, promote efficient government, keep taxes low and seek ways to reduce our energy needs in our new McMansions.
If given the choice for change in the Coles District, I will vote for Tom Kopko, a retired army Captain, not a career politician. Tom cares about what is best for the residents of Prince William. He is a strong, intelligent and passionate leader who will raise the bar not only for the Coles District but for the entire county.
Will Kopko step down when he announces? If he does announce, then he should immediately step down.
Charles keeps calling Tom Kopko “Chair”. Although I doubt he intended any disrespect, a “Chair” is a piece of furniture. If you respect the man and the job that he is doing, then one shoud refer to him as “Chairman”.
I think Charles is a very good Ottoman, and might make a good end-table.
Kopko could have more influence on the committee or politics in the area as a whole if he stayed on as Chairman of the committee rather than primary a sitting Republican supervisor. This mistake has been made many times before on many different committees in Virginia. Mr. Kopko could easily get a nomination for an elected seat in the future if he would just wait his turn. Now, its potentially now or never. Patience is a virtue many in politics struggle with. Kopko should just continue serving his term as committee chairman and wait for an opening somewere. Overall, the committee as done very well under his leadership and organization and it will be a shame to start over under a new committee chair.
BDB:
You are correct that the PWC Republican Commitee bylaws still refer to the position as “Chairman”. However, the more common and accepted term now for the position is “Chair”, as it does not imply a gender.
This definition of “Chair” has been in the dictionary for a long time now, and includes both the position of leadership, AND the person in that position.
For example:
the person occupying a seat of office, esp. the chairperson of a meeting: The speaker addressed the chair.
You are correct I mean no disrespect, but I believe incorrect in making an issue of my usage.
Uh…Charles, it is you that are wrong. A Chair is the position. The Chairman is the person filling the position. Chairman does not imply gender. That something is common, doesn’t make it correct, just commonly incorrect. For someone who spends a lot of keystrokes trying to get his point across, I would think you would want to use the correct terms.
And I do think you are a great ottoman.
Tom Kopko should remain Chairman of PWCRC until winning the Primary. There is no reason to create a shake up in leadership during an election season.
The best scenario would be if Kopko steps down from the committee “chair” then Marty wipes the deck with him. Daugherty then has a shot as Chairman and the committee can select a vice chairman and bring the committee out of the shadows.
Tom has helped energize the party, but he also has been a bit over the top. He has used the Chair to further his own personal agenda. I will strongly support Marty in his re-election bid.
F all you SOBs, you a-hole anonymous cowardly m-fers!!!!!!
Can we get the real TK to come in and make us all smile?
BTB:
I provided the definition straight from the dictionary.
Me too.
Ottoman: A ruling member of the Turkish empire, or a short, squat piece of furniture, used to rest one’s feet on, usually well-padded.
I agree with Charles. Tom will provide the Committee with the leadership needed to get our R-candidates elected. Besides, Tom can’t raise enough money to keep up with Marty’s campaign fund! Marty needs to get smacked hard by Tom for supporting and voting for a bad budget. Corey said NO! Look who is fixing it–Corey.
Marty has p’d off a lot of people, Tom has the guts to say no to developers and the guts to get government spending under control. The proposed budget amendments simply delay major expenditures with the expectation that taxes will start to raise after the election year.
Sorry greg!
I hadn’t read your site in a couple weeks…
…and had received an e-mail and few calls
I’ll link to you
Shame on you Vincent
You need to read BVBL every single day!