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The Barg Question
By Greg L | 9 April 2007 | Prince William County | 6 Comments
The filing deadline for candidates in the November 2007 election is this Friday, April 13th. For elected officials who belong to a political party, and who intend to retire, this deadline is rather significant. If an office holder wants to retire, and wishes to see a vigorous battle to see who the best candidate may be from their party for the seat they will vacate, announcing retirement as early as possible is helpful. Those that want to engineer the nomination of a chosen successor announce as close to the deadline as possible so as to make it as difficult as possible for credible alternatives to join the race. Finally, those that aren’t retiring usually don’t let the clock run down, as it does make an incumbent look vulnerable to not be clear about their intentions.
We’ve seen Chuck Colgan finally get strong-armed into announcing his re-election efforts, but Woodbridge Supervisor Hilda Barg has still remained silent and doesn’t seem to be subjected to this sort of DPVA attention. Her only announced challenger for the nomination is a rather hapless neophyte by the name of Robert Rice who really isn’t being taken seriously by anyone. This lends credence to the theory that Barg will announce she will not run for re-election and will be supporting the candidacy of an as yet unnamed Democrat. If that will happen, that probably needs to be pulled off by 5PM this Friday.
There is one way to avoid this deadline. If the method of nomination is other than a primary, the filing deadline for those nominated by convention or mass meeting (aka “firehouse primary”) is in June. If this becomes an open seat due to Barg stepping down, and the PWCDC decides that a convention or mass meeting will be the method of nomination, the filing deadline will be determined by the call that would be issued. Usually these calls require at least seven days for potential candidates to file, which makes it harder to restrict the playing field. About the only reason I can see the PWCDC doing this is if they don’t get their act together in time and have no choice. If the method of nomination will be a primary, I can see an opportunity here for Barg’s chosen successor to file immediately before the this Friday’s deadline at about the same time a last-minute announcement is made. That opportunity wouldn’t be there if the filing deadline is determined by a convention or mass meeting call.
So for observers in the Woodbridge district, this should be an interesting week. With Peter Frisbie apparently taking control of the PWCDC, not only is what happens with Hilda a topic of discussion, but this would be Frisbie’s first leadership test, although Ernestine Jenkins is by all account still calling the shots behind the scenes. I tend to believe that Barg will announce she is not running, and an announcement by a new candidate will be made. The closer this is to the deadline, the more obvious it will be that the PWCDC is trying to ram through a designated succession and won’t care much for having local Democrats select who their nominee will be for Woodbridge Supervisor.
UPDATE: A reader sent the following tip:
I was at Safeway in Woodbridge (on Opitz) Saturday afternoon when I came out a lady was requesting people to sign for husband to be placed on the ballot for Woodbridge Supervisor. His name is Frank Principi and he is the Chairman of the Futures Commission. I was told that Hilda is supporting Frank Principi and that there will be a press conference this week announcing Hilda’s retirement.
UPDATE 2: Virtucon has more here.
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Greg, you need to check your sources out more. Both Barg and Rice have told folks they are no longer running several weeks ago. Frank Princpi is the only announced Democrat in that race.
Rice still has his campaign web page up and I haven’t heard anything about him dropping out. And I haven’t heard anything about Barg saying she’s not going to run either. If you’ve got an update for us, I’d love it if you’d drop me a line.
I believe Frank Principi is also on the Board of Equalization.
[…] Storm Virginia, Prince William County Politics, 2007 Elections. trackback Greg L. over at BVBL is speculating about whether Woodbridge Supervisor Hilda Barg will retire this year. He relates word that Barg […]
Principi was recently seen entering Barg’s office, saying “This is going to be my office” in a pretty cocky tone.
[…] Politics, 2007 Elections. trackback Frank Principi, who we told you about the other day and is said to be the Democrat candidate for Woodbridge Supervisor when Hilda Barg announces her retirement from the […]