A Campaign Update from John Hishta

To:      34th House District Interested Parties
 
From:   John Hishta
 
Re:      Comstock for Delegate Campaign

 

Barbara has filed to run for the 34th House District seat of the Virginia House of Delegates. As you know, this seat is the seat held by former Delegate Vince Callahan for 40 years until his retirement.

Due to the bad winter storm, we had to postpone our campaign kickoff event scheduled for Monday, March 2 with Governor Haley Barbour in McLean at the home of Ed and Edwin Rogers. However, this event will be rescheduled soon with Governor Barbour at the Rogers' home and we will get you the information on the new date as soon as we get it. We will also feature the information on our website.

As you may remember, Republicans lost this seat in 2007 by just about 500 votes. I worked with Dave Hunt on his close race in 2007. Both Vince Callahan and Dave Hunt are supporting Barbara as well as Rep. Frank Wolf, my old boss Rep. Tom Davis, Speaker of the House Bill Howell and many others in the 34th District, Virginia and elsewhere.

With all the bad news for Republicans in 2008, you may not have realized that Rep. Frank Wolf won the area comprising the 34th by about 63%. In Supervisor Pat Herrity's special election for Chairman of the Board of Supervisors earlier this month, Pat won this area also. The political climate is changing by the day with the troubling economy. John Cook's election as Supervisor in a seat held by a Democrat since the 1960s shows how quickly things are changing. This is a seat we can win.

Barbara would have the advantage of putting this seat back in the majority in the state legislature -- just as when Vince Callahan held the seat. Recently Governor Kaine -- who is also the DNC Chairma n -- conceded in a Washington Post interview that Democrats face "an uphill task this year to retake the House". "What are the chances on the House side that we are going to win? I would say maybe 40 percent," Kaine said.

We agree and that is one more reason to put this seat back in Republican hands where it will have more influence and impact in Richmond.

Barbara has lived in McLean for over 25 years with her husband, Chip, as Assistant Principal at Oakton High School who also was a math teacher at Langley and McLean High School over the years. They raised their three children in McLean. Barbara served on the McLean Community Center Board and the Board of McLean Country Day School.

In the 1990s, Barbara served as a senior aide to Rep. Wolf, where she was immersed in issues important to Northern Virginia such as federal employees and health care issues, telework and business issues, appropriations for the district, and tax relief for Virginia families . She also served as Chief Counsel on the House Government Reform and Oversight Committee and as Director of the Office of Public Affairs at the U.S. Department of Justice. (You can read more about Barbara on our site at http://www.comstockfordelegate.com/about/default.aspx)

We are already off to a very busy start with the campaign. Barbara is already getting around to many events in the district and going door to door in the district -- first for Pat Herrity's campaign and now for her own. And we also have started the important job of raising funds for what will be a key race in Northern Virginia this year:

Governor Mitt Romney held a fundraiser for Barbara on February 26th. Barbara worked on Governor Romney's campaign for President and was a frequent cable TV spokesman for him. Over 150 people turned out for this event!

Former Solicitor General Ted Olson held a fundraiser in mid-February with many of their mutual former Justice Department colleagues. Ted lives in Great Falls and Barbara worked with him at the Justice Department as the Director of the Office of Public Affairs.

A Women's Fundraising Event was held for Barbara in early February with some of Barbara's professional women friends. (See story: http://www.dcexaminer.com/opinion/blogs/YeasandNays/Barnes-GOP-women-show-up-for-Comstock38916304.html)

Liz Cheney (who lives in the district with her family) and Mary Matalin will be hosting an event in the coming months too.
We also have two new additions to our team.

Sean Harrison will be our Campaign Manager. Sean spent five years with General Electric and graduated from their Sales Leadership Program. Throughout college and as a young professional, Sean has always been involved in campaigns. Last year he worked for The RNC/Virginia Victory Staff as the Field Director for Arlington and Alexandria and then for the Coleman campaign during the recount.

Corry Bliss will be our Grass Roots Consultant. This year Corry is running Delegate Joe May (R-33rd) and Delegate Jackson Miller's (R-50th) Campaigns. Last year He served as Congresswoman Thelma Drake's (Va-02) Campaign Manager and in 2007 Corry worked on Rob Wittman's (Va-01) Special Election to Congress and managed Delegate Jackson Miller's re-election.

We hope you will join our efforts in winning this seat in November.

If you would like to sign up for email updates, volunteer, donate, host a meet and greet or let us know about an event you think Barbara should attend in your area, we would love to hear from you. Also, we hope you can join the campaign for door knocking on this Saturday or any weekends you have available.

 

Thank you,

John Hishta