This isn't a "Safe District" like the Joannou and Light primary.  Go with who will win here.  Support Bowling.

Why isn't he running as a REPUBLICAN with a donation record like that?!?  Is there any explanation for this? (I can't imagine what it could be)

I believe the explanation when he ran against Bowling in 2005 was that he only supported the Kilgores because they were from Southwest Virginia.  That doesn't explain his support for McDonnell, and I remain skeptical that one can give $100,000 to Republicans and still espouse Democratic ideals (but, I also don't have $100,000 to give!).

Dan Bowling is clearly the right delegate for the job -- talk to anyone who's worked with him.  He works hard, delivers for his district, and most importantly, he has a strong moral compass and always tries to do what's right.  Let's keep him in office.

Jackie Stump was the Democratic Delegate from the 3rd then. Bowling won in a special election on January 3rd of '06, where he trounced the republican and 2 independents on the ballot.

James is onto something with the money issue...but aside from that, Bowling has done nothing to deserve to be primaried, other than live in the same district as this apparent opportunist.

Dan Bowling is a true Southwest Virginia and a friend to the hard working coal mining communities. We shouldn't be worried about primarying good Democrats when we could be busy ousting the bad ones like Benny Lambert. Send Dan Bowling back to Richmond!

you can email deldbowling@house.state.va.us or phone (276) 498-7207

Why is Mickey McGlothlin running as a Democrat?  Maybe, he knows that hell will freeze over before the 3rd will send a Republican to Richmond.

There is also the perception in Buchanan County that they own the seat, since it was held by Jackie Stump for years and by Don McGlothlin,Sr. for years before that.

You can bet that the Republicans in the 3rd will turn out to vote for Mickey.  Why did you all decide to have a primary?  I would think that after the convention in 2006, the Party would want more control over the process not less.

Of course the money says all that needs to be said.  Over $100,000 to Kilgore and McDonnell.  McGlothlin should be run out of the Democratic Party on a rail.

I don't usually make campaign donations outside of my district, but if someone can direct me to Dan's campaign I'm ready to write a check.

ScottCoDemocrat makes a good point to DanG's comment about this not being a safe district. The 3rd was one of the safest seats in the Commonwealth when Stump was delegate, and likely will with Bowling for a long while.

We got a really good thing with Bowling.  Why risk screwing it up?  That's my point.

I agree that we shouldn't (or rather that the Democrats of the 3rd District) shouldn't risk screwing up a good thing. 

I can't help but believe that the error was in asking for a primary.  The tension between the various County Democratic Committees was very high 2 years ago and it doesn't seem to have lessened.  In a primary you have to be concerned about Democrats who want their man as the candidate and watch your back for crossover Republicans at the same time.  If you haven't figured it out by now, I'm not a fan of primaries.  At least, as long as we don't have to declare a party affliation to register to vote. Brian, do you have any info that you can share on this decision.

Let me preface this by saying that I lived in Grundy for a few years...(hence ASL). The McGlothlins are the richest family(maybe even the most prominent) in Buchanan County. I perceived him to be an old style democrat (like a lot of folks in Buchanan County)...meaning a conservative democrat or not a NoVa Dem. He is a very prominent lawyer in Grundy and worked with Tom Scott as a prosecutor in the Roger Coleman case.  He is very tied in with the Appalachian School of Law (his wife taught me Virginia Procedure and is a fantastic professor) and the University of Appalachia College of Pharmacy (chair of the board).

Yes, the union drives that district and that county. As for Kilgore, there was a lot of talk in the area (even among the staunchest of democrats) that Kilgore was "one of us" hence the votes...that was when I told them about Kaine being former Governor Holton's son in law.  The general feeling around there is that the state stops at Roanoke and that their voices would not be heard. Kilgore was seen as someone who would not abandon his roots, meaning them.  That was why you saw some local dems cross over.

I'm not making any excuses at all for supporting Mr. Kilgore, but I certainly understand the "State stops at Roanoke" attitude that is conveyed to those parts.

I've lived in both Tazewell County and Buchanan County. Buchanan County coal paid for a large chunk of my life and I love the place. But progress in this region depends on regional unity in working with Richmond; and for some reason this race seems to have taken on the flavor of a high school football rivalry between the counties.

Mickey wants to replace Stump (who served before Dan) in the name of returning the seat to Buchanan County. The irony is that Mickey comes from a management family for United Coal and Jackie Stump was a United Mine Workers of America board member. I'm not sure Mickey and Jackie had very much in common apart from living in the same county.

There's an integrity question in my mind that comes up before the question of whether Mickey's values are more Democratic or Republican. When you enter the caucus process you sign a pledge to the effect that you will, at the very least, not support an opposition candidate against the party's nominee. Mickey's donations to GOP candidates in the past make me suspect that he has broken the spirit of that pledge (if not the letter) and his explanations seem self-serving. (I'm sure as an attorney he could explain it better if given the opportunity...) How do I trust someone who can't keep that simple pledge?

As I drove to work most mornings during the last race for governor I'd here radio ads for Kilgore. He had two issues that played out here:

1). If we elect Kaine we won't be able to execute people because the Pope will say we can't (I'm a Baptist).

2). There are illegal aliens paying in-state tuition at Virginia Tech and we need to put an end to that (to which I thought, "They got in to Tech? Jeez, leave them alone! Surely there are more important financial issues that to campaign on...")

In all honesty, hearing just those two strings on the Kilgore fiddle made me wonder if he was a Nazi instead of a Republican - not because those issue don't merit some attention, but because Kilgore seemed to think they were so important (or that the emotional nature of those issues would attract enough "anger votes" for him to make a difference).

In donating to Kilgore, Mickey endorsed that poor judgment because it served his own self-interest. His money says he's self-serving and has bad judgment.

Can Mickey work with the current governor after giving money to Kaine's opponent? I think that's a silly question and I'd need to see Governor Kaine actually endorse Mickey publicly in this race before I'd believe that the answer is "yes."

If Mickey gets elected, he'll bring very little home to the Third until Kaine is gone. Personally, I'd hold that against Mickey, not Kaine. The fact that Mickey is running at all while Kaine is still governor simply reinforces the questions about his judgment and speaks much about the level of self-interest involved in his bid for the seat...

Virginia Delegate Dan Bowling has just finished his second session of the assembly of the Virginia House of Delegates with a flourish of success. Although he is a relative new member of this august legislative body Dan was able to avail on nearly 56% of his initiatives as passed legislation. This is a remarkable achievement at this stage of his assembly career. Dan is a Southwest Virginia homegrown proven and trusted leader whose sole purpose as a politician is to represent his people with integrity, honesty and results. Dan has a clear vision for the future of the third district and his 30+ years as a Virginia educator provides him a wealth of knowledge which allows Dan to be an accepted and experienced team player able to coordinate with other members to achieve success with legislative issues.

Political contact with other politicians from the vicinity as well as other parts of the state is another strong area for Dan Bowling and enhances his ability to work as a team member for area needs and legislation. Delegate Dan Bowling has an excellent relationship with U.S. Congressman Fredrick C. Boucher and State Senator Phillip Puckett and Dan works closely with them as a partner for coordinated area needs in the Virginia Third District. Virginia Delegate Dan Bowling is a hard worker, good listener and experienced problem solver who is proven, trusted and willing to work for the people to better their life with a government who cares about their issues. Delegate Dan Bowling has done a good job, is doing a good job and deserves the opportunity to continue at his current Delegate status. Please go vote this June 12th. and please vote for Delegate Dan Bowling as the Democratic nominee for the third district House of Delegate position.

I feel qualified to tell you all I know about Mickey McGlothlin, Mickey and I have a lot in common, we are both independent thinkers who do not follow a party line. While both of us lean heavily toward the republicans we can see some value in democrat ideas. Folks remember the republicans are in the majority in Richmond so Dan Bowling is to be commended for getting 56% of his agenda passed. However with Mickey's strong ties to the Republican Party in Buchannan County perhaps he thinks he will be able to do even better. Bobby May who is the leading republican activist and writer in Buchannan County has already endorsed Mickey McGlothlin over Bowling in the Voice Newspaper. Speaking of the Voice Newspaper, Earl Cole the editor who is a red hot republican not only endorsed McGlothlin he got signatures on the petitions for him to run. On the other hand Frank Kilgore who is an ardent democrat has sent a powerful letter out endorsing McGlothlin. McGlothlin is a good choice because he is totally bipartisan and he has high level strategists from both parties paid to work on his campaign. It really amazes me how with the right amount of money people will cross party lines to make a republican appear to be a democrat and you thought we had abolished slavery in Virginia. Years ago you were born a democrat or republican and died the same and now it goes to show loyalty to a party is fast becoming a thing of the past. Folks with Mickey you are getting the best of both worlds-a rich republican that lives in Buchannan County and he is close friends with prominent democrats. We all know that Mickey is not wanting this job for the money because he is worth more than 135 million dollars. Therefore he must want the job out of bipartisan loyalty to his republican and democrat friends.

First, I believe the term you're looking for is "Democratic ideas." While we refer to individuals as Democrats, we are not the Democrat party.

So let him run as an independent or a Republican. If Dan can bring home 56% of his agenda from the wrong side of the isle, think what Mickey might could do for us if he really was in with the other guys! From what you've said, it wouldn't hurt my feelings to see him go there...

To doubters of Mickey McGlothlin,

Why don't you call Mickey McGlothlin yourself and talk about thet issues with him. I know Mickey McGlothlin, and he is a creative leader who would be glad to have a political disscussion with you over the phone. He is blinded with rhetoric as some on this site claim.

However, what is rhetoric is the fact you hold his support against Jerry Kilgore against him. The two-party system puts a limit on deomocracy, in the fact that it forces people to polarize their opinions. However, naturally it would be almost absurd to share all of your opinions with the official position of either the Democratic or Republican Parties. Within the individual political parties their are wide encompassing ranges of opinions on every issue. There are Democrats more conservative than Republicans, and Republicans more liberal than Democrats in some instances. I believe that people who only see America in Blue and Red are really missing the mark. Mickey has been a Democrat his entire life. He was the Democratic Commonwealth Attorney of Buchanan County and a member of the State Forestry Board appointed directly by Gov. Warner. He is a strong believer of improving Southwest Virginia. The truth is that our side of the state is economically far behind the Eastern part. But we have to be proactive if we are going to change Southwest Virginia, and Mickey has already played a big part in improving Southwest Virginia. He supported Kilgore, not as a testiment to the Republican Party, but as a sign of support for leaders that could substantially and particularly help Southwest Virginia.

So, I urge anyone to call up Mickey at 276-935-6644. Even feel free to disagree with him, just to help but the issues out there in this election. This is the last regular Delegate Election in the 3rd District that has been opposed in the last 12 years. The important issues in our district haven't really been brought up as much as it should have. If anything in this election, there shouldn't be any rhetoric, and the real issues should be talked about. I am confident if you listen to Mickey's message, or maybe call his campaign to talk the issues,or even talk to someone who knows him, you will find Mickey to be an intellectual who wants to help Tazewell, Russell, and Buchanan Counties with all his ability.

You muddy the distinction between disagreeing with your party and working against it.

I disagree with the Democratic Party in general about a handful of issues. Chief among them I suppose is abortion. I'd love to help moderate my party's position on that issue. I think that the Party tends to hold too extreme a view on gun control, nationally; but I understand that life is different in an urban setting than it is here. When I disagree, I work within the Party.

Two years ago, but supporting a GOP candidate financially, Mickey worked against it. I suspect the Warner appointment came before he did that.

Dan's doing a fine job. Why replace him? Mickey's credentials alone don't answer that question. And however "good" a Democrat he is, he wanted a Republican as governor last go round...

blueman, Sir:
This discussion concerning Mickey McGlothlin's historic political action in support of Democratic party politics and his restrictive attitude and lack of loyalty toward some of the prior party candidates is relevant and central to the focus of his political credibility. Mickey's selective support for Democratic Party candidates is disturbing to some party members and a weak reason for them to support Mickey's request for party reward as the party nominee. This discussion concerns how, who and why the Democratic Party selects to represent the Democratic Party for the position of Third District Delegate to the Virginia House of Delegates for the next general election. Mickey McGlothlin, a sometimes supporter of party politics, is questionable as a strong supporter of party political positions and, in my opinion, undeserving of the valued party reward of nominee and is someone who has not earned serious consideration. Mickey McGlothlin's historic on/off support for party political candidates is a serious flaw and a strong reason NOT to support his request to be the Democratic party's representative for this political position.

Greg C., Sir:
A treat is waiting for you at the behest of Dan's initiative. There is a hilarious ending to this saga that I believe you will appreciate. I'm a former antagonist of yours who you will remember from some three years back. Dan will identify me to you upon request. Good people migrate to the best and Dan is the best and deserving of the Democratic label and the right to carry the party banner. You have a good day and maybe someday we will meet and have a good laugh and a hand shake out of respect.

Sounds like fun... :)