On Monday, First Read DMV wrote about the incendiary remarks made by the surprise GOP nominee for lieutenant governor, E.W. Jackson, in the past. The comments include one in which he compares Planned Parenthood to the KKK and another in which he said he believed that there was a direct link between homosexuality and pedophilia.
Tuesday, news outlets are asking whether this extreme social conservative could actually hurt Ken Cuccinelli's chances of clinching the governor's race.
The Washington Post writes that in the general election, Cuccinelli is attempting to stay in the middle and stray away from social issues, instead stumping on his economic conservatism. Jackson’s place on the GOP ticket could give “fuel to Democrats who aim to paint Cuccinelli as an extreme conservative,” the Post's Rachel Weiner wrote.
The pick of Jackson, which has already proven to be controversial, could rally the Democratic base and brings Dems to the polls who otherwise would have stayed home.
Cuccinelli and Jackson do run separately (meaning one can win, while the other loses) and Cuccinelli told the media that he would not be answering for Jackson’s beliefs.
If Jackson wins, he will preside over the state Senate and cast any tiebreaker votes. The Senate is currently evenly split between parties and, if that breakdown remains, Jackson could be the deciding vote on many key issues.
And here's some reading on E.W. Jackson:
* "How can Virginia’s GOP choose someone as crazy as E.W. Jackson to be lieutenant governor?"(Slate)
* Current Virginia Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling said E.W. Jackson, the surprise GOP lt. gov. pick, has made “simply indefensible” comments. (Politico)
"I was raised to be an FDR Democrat because my father was a young man during the Depression and credited President Roosevelt with saving him from starvation.... In spite of my childhood indoctrination, as a young man newly committed to my Christian faith, I had a crisis of conscience in the late 1970s. Massachusetts Democrat Barney Frank was pushing the homosexual agenda," Jackson wrote in a 2012 piece in the Washington Times.
IN OTHER NEWS:
* As part of a series on tax breaks that big developers receive in D.C., a WAMU investigation found the city awarded $1.7 billion in subsidies to 133 groups in the past decade -- and more than a third of the subsidies went to 10 developers that donated the most campaign cash over that time. A fraction of the subsidies went to the city’s poorest neighborhoods. (WAMU)
* The District didn’t collect $6.5 million in tax penalties because the CFO did not enforce a D.C. law tied to electronic filing requirement for certain businesses, the inspector general found. (Washington Examiner)
* Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley has been using his agenda and fundraising opportunities to travel the country and get his name out there as he mulls a 2016 run. (AP)
* Adam Kokesh, the man organizing the July 4 protest in D.C. -- in which participants are expected to march in the city with loaded rifles -- was arrested at a marijuana legalization rally over the weekend in Philadelphia, but says his D.C. rally will still go on. (Washington City Paper)
* Cuccinelli is dropping his assertion that the Office of the Attorney General is exempt from state public records laws. (Washington Post)
* Virginia Del. David Ramadan, who represents parts of Loudoun and Prince William counties, will kick off his campaign for reelection tonight. (Patch)
* After failing to disclose a trip to Taiwan he took for business purposes, Ramadan announced Monday that he would amend his financial disclosure forms to include the trip. (Press release)
* Maryland drivers will start to be ticketed while driving and talking on the phone, despite studies showing that such crackdowns do little to prevent accidents. (Washington Examiner)