Wittman Wins GOP Nomination For Jo Ann Davis Seat
CAROLINE COUNTY, Va. - State Del. Rob Wittman won Virginia’s 1st Congressional District Republican nomination Saturday in a heated and sometime raucous party convention to replace the late Rep. Jo Ann Davis. Wittman claimed victory in the 6th round of balloting, after conservative anti-tax activist Paul Jost conceded.
Jost had led through all five rounds of balloting, but a late endorsement by Davis’ husband, retired firefighter Chuck Davis, helped push Wittman over the top. Davis entered the convention as one of the leading candidates.
“We were able to pick [up support from] people, and they caught on to our message,” Wittman said. “The Democrats are going to go after the seat with all that they’ve got, and we’re going to go after it with all that we’ve got.”
The convention secretary refused to reveal the final tally after Jost conceded. (One GOP activist said that Wittman won 300 delegates and Jost finished with 260 on the final ballot.) Much of the intra-party jockeying was in a sense an extension of the 2000 campaign, when Jost lost out on the congressional nomination to Davis. Some hard feelings appeared to remain from that contest.
“Everybody knew it was coming down to the Jost vs. the anti-Jost folks,” said a Republican activist in the district. “After this loss his political career is up.”
The seat came open after Davis, first elected to the House in 2000, died on Oct. after a long bout with cancer. The district stretches from the Washington, D.C. suburbs to the Hampton Roads area.
Wittman was the only sitting state legislator in the 11-candidate field, representing Virginia's Northern Neck in Virginia's House of Delegates. He previously served as Westmoreland County chairman, and is a state employee for the Division of Shellfish Sanitation.
Virginia Republican Party Spokesman Shaun Kenney attributed Wittman’s victory to his strong convention speech, and assiduous courting of rival candidates.
“What put Wittman over the top was his speech. It wasn’t so much who was number one for [convention-goers], but who was number two.”
Wittman will face teacher and military veteran Phil Forgit, the Democratic nominee, in the Dec. 11 special election.