弗吉尼亚州的共和党提名大会于周六举行，结束了现任共和党众议员丹佛·里格曼和前坎贝尔县州长鲍勃·古德在该州第五国会选区的一场有争议的、有时甚至是丑陋的初选。
里格曼在2018年以7个百分点的优势战胜了民主党人莱斯利·考克伯恩，他正面临改选之战，因为他所在地区的政党官员去年夏天试图指责他主持了两位同性恋竞选志愿者之间的婚礼，称这样做违反了政党纲领。这场选举可能是对该党在同性婚姻和其他个人自由问题上立场的一次公民投票，反对古德，前者主张在这些问题上保持隐私，后者则采取更多的福音主义立场，并在表示里格曼不够保守后加入了竞选。
这场比赛最近的争议也在上演:本月早些时候，一段视频浮出水面，一名优秀竞选代理人在社交媒体上就2017年夏洛茨维尔的抗议发表种族主义言论。
“你让一个黑人当了八年总统，你在叫屈，还是白人至上?你给魔鬼一英寸，他就会成为你的统治者。这些少数民族不会满意，”竞选代理人埃迪·迪恩在视频中说CBS19。他后来告诉电视台，他的评论是断章取义的。
迪恩还将整个LGBTQ社区概括为“一群同性恋者”和“奇怪的人”
好，谁拿了强硬立场在同性婚姻和反对堕胎等问题上没有对视频发表评论，众议员里格曼的竞选团队仍然呼吁他这样做，或者退出竞选。
里格曼得到了唐纳德·特朗普总统、众议院自由党团主席安迪·比格斯(亚利桑那州)和众议院司法委员会高级成员吉姆·乔丹(俄亥俄州)的支持，他是特朗普的盟友。
据报道，初选并不是由选民决定的，而是由县一级的代表决定的，这一事实使初选变得复杂起来。去年7月，县一级的代表就曾就指责里格曼一事进行过辩论罗诺克时报。
谴责最终失败了，但这是该党蔑视的标志。里格曼在接受美国广播公司采访时表示，他认为个人自由是他竞选的基石，并认为攻击性偏好等自由是错误的。
2020年6月10日，美国总统唐纳德·特朗普在华盛顿特区白宫内阁会议室会见非裔美国支持者时发表讲话。
2020年6月10日，美国总统唐纳德·特朗普在华盛顿特区白宫内阁会议室会见非裔美国支持者时发表讲话。道格·米尔斯/纽约时报/彭博通过盖蒂图片
里格曼在接受美国广播公司新闻采访时表示:“我只是再次感到难以置信地担心，如果个人没有伤害我们，我们会担心他们如何生活。”。“我不能，作为一名共和党人，我不能因为他们爱谁，他们看起来怎么样，或者他们崇拜谁，就用不同的方式对待任何人。”
在这篇报道发表之前，古德的竞选团队没有回应记者的多次置评请求，而是告诉其他媒体，在周六的地区提名大会结束之前，他们不会提供媒体服务。他确实回答了一个关于他的名字是否会出现在11月的党内投票中的个人询问。
J.弗吉尼亚大学萨巴托水晶球的副编辑迈尔斯·科尔曼说，考虑到该地区的人口构成，他认为古德是一个有风险的候选人:它是美国最大的国会选区之一，从华盛顿特区的郊区到北卡罗莱纳州的北部边界，它包含了许多不同的政治观点。
在这张2015年11月3日的档案照片中，共和党候选人鲍勃·古德(右)在抵达弗吉尼亚州林奇堡的穆斯旅馆时向选民致意
在这张2015年11月3日的档案照片中，共和党候选人鲍勃·古德(右)在抵达弗吉尼亚州林奇堡的穆斯旅馆时向选民致意秋季招架/新闻&美联社报道
科尔曼说:“我们可能会认为古德是共和党中风险更大的候选人，主要是因为里格曼赢得了整个地区的支持。”。"里格曼受到更多考验这一事实可能会让他更可信、更具合法性."
弗吉尼亚州是少数几个选举县级代表来决定初选候选人的州之一，科尔曼说这可以奖励党的忠诚，而初选可能不会。
科尔曼说，“弗吉尼亚已经举行了一段时间的这种会议……他们有提名更多地支持政党忠诚者的候选人的历史。”他澄清说，人口统计数据有助于里格曼的候选资格，但提名过程可能会让古德成为周六竞选的获胜者。
里格曼称这一过程是腐败的，并表示在任何其他情况下，这都将被谴责为贿赂。据报道，古德的竞选团队负责监督该州第五选区的提名过程政客。提名大会也将在古德家附近举行，里格曼竞选团队声称这会给古德一个优势。
里格曼说:“这似乎是弗吉尼亚政坛长期以来的惯例，我相信这就是共和党在过去十年遭受如此巨大损失的原因——因为他们没有挑选出非常好的候选人。”。“你不能从这些惯例中获得高质量的候选人，规则是可以被操纵的。他们想让选民——我会说——尽可能少的选民。”
他说，提名的步骤是一种“按牌付费”的情况，指向这样一个事实，即可能与某些候选人有联系的代表最终将决定谁赢得提名。
里格曼告诉美国广播公司，“停止付费播放，停止腐败，停止试图缩小党”。
周五晚上，里格曼竞选团队声称古德没有达到周六大会投票所需的投票资格要求。很好，在给美国广播公司的一条短信中，他说他的竞选文件已经归档，他的名字将出现在选票上，尽管他没有具体说明是哪张选票——初选还是大选。
记者未能联系到弗吉尼亚选举部就里格曼的说法发表评论。根据华盛顿邮报古德和尼克·弗雷塔斯是该州第七国会选区的候选人，他们没有达到11月份投票的资格要求，尽管弗吉尼亚共和党证实这两个名字将在周六出现在选票上。
周五，弗吉尼亚州共和党总顾问克里斯·马特森(Chris Martson)给该州选举部写了一封信，要求延长候选人资格，以满足投票资格要求。该缔约国的一名发言人表示，不管古德的申请状态如何，他都可以在周六的地区大会上获得代表们的投票。
Controversial Republican primary takes place amid calls for challenger to drop out
Virginia’s Republican nominating conventions take place on Saturday -- bringing to a close a contested and sometimes ugly primary between incumbent Republican Rep. Denver Riggleman and former Campbell County supervisor Bob Good in the state’s 5th Congressional District.
Riggleman -- who won his seat in 2018 by seven percentage points over Democrat Leslie Cockburn -- is facing a reelection battle after party officials in his district attempted to censure him last summer for officiating a wedding between two gay campaign volunteers, saying doing so was a violation of party platform. The race could serve as a referendum on the party's stance on same-sex marriage and other individual liberties, pitting Riggleman, who has advocated for privacy on such matters, against Good, who employs more evangelical stances and jumped into the race after saying Riggleman was not conservative enough.
Also at play is the race's most recent controversy: A video surfaced earlier this month of a Good campaign surrogate making racist comments on social media relating to protests in Charlottesville in 2017.
"You had a black man in the presiden[cy] for eight years and you're crying foul, or white supremacy? You give the devil an inch, and he'll be your ruler. These minorities will not be satisfied," Eddie Deane, a campaign surrogate, said in the video first reported byCBS19. He later told the station his comments were taken out of context.
Deane also generalized the entire LGBTQ community as "a bunch of queers" and as "strange people."
Good, who has takenhard-line stanceson issues like same-sex marriage and against abortion -- has not commented on the video and Rep. Riggleman’s campaign is still calling on him to do so, or to leave the race.
Riggleman has endorsements from President Donald Trump, the House Freedom Caucus Chairman Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., and House Judiciary Ranking Member Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, a Trump ally.
The primary is complicated by the fact that it isn’t decided by voters, but by county-level delegates -- the same group which debated censuring Riggleman last July, according toRoanoke Times.
Ultimately the censure failed, but it was a sign of the party’s contempt. Riggleman told ABC News in an interview that he considers individual liberties a cornerstone of his campaign, and thinks attacks on liberties such as sexual preference are wrong.
"I just, again, find it incredibly concerning that we're worried about how individuals live if they're not hurting us," Riggleman said in an interview with ABC News. "And I can't, as a Republican, I can't get my arms around us treating anybody differently just based on who they love, how they look, or who they worship."
Good’s campaign did not respond to repeated requests for comment prior to the publication of this story and told other outlets that it was not providing media availability until after the district’s nominating convention on Saturday. He did respond to one individual inquiry regarding whether his name will appear on the party's ballot come November.
J. Miles Coleman, associate editor of Sabato’s Crystal Ball at the University of Virginia, said he thinks Good is a risky candidate for the district given its demographic makeup: It’s one of the largest congressional districts in the country, spanning from the Washington, D.C., suburbs to the northern border of North Carolina, and it encompasses many different political views.
"We probably would regard Good as sort of the riskier candidate for the Republicans, mostly because Riggleman has won districtwide," Coleman said. "Just the fact that Riggleman is more tested probably gives him more credibility, more legitimacy."
Virginia is one of few states which elects county-level delegates to decide the primary nominee, which Coleman said can reward party loyalty in a way a primary likely would not.
"Virginia has had these kinds of conventions for a while…[they] have a history of nominating the candidate who plays more to the party loyalist," Coleman said, clarifying that the demographics lend themselves to Riggleman's candidacy, but the nominating process may point toward Good as the winner of Saturday's contest.
Riggleman called the process corrupt, and said in any other situation it would be condemned as bribery. Good has campaign staffers who oversee the nominating process to the state's 5th District, according toPolitico. The nominating convention will also take place near Good's home, which the Riggleman campaign asserts will give Good an advantage.
"It seems that this has been an ongoing practice in Virginia politics for a long time, and I believe that's why the Republican Party has suffered so greatly in this last decade -- because they're not picking very good candidates," Riggleman said. "You don't get quality candidates out of these conventions, the rules can be manipulated. They want to keep the voter -- I would say -- the voter pool as small as possible."
The nominating steps are a "pay-to-play" scenario, he said, pointing toward the fact that delegates who may have ties to certain candidates will ultimately decide who wins the nomination.
"Stop pay-to-play, stop the corruption and stop trying to shrink the party," Riggleman told ABC.
On Friday night, the Riggleman campaign asserted that Good had not met the ballot qualification requirements needed to appear on the convention's ballot on Saturday. Good, in a text message to ABC News, said his campaign paperwork had been filed and his name will appear on the ballot, although he did not specify which ballot -- the primary or the general.
The Virginia Department of Elections could not be reached for comment to confirm Riggleman's assertions. According toThe Washington Post, Good and Nick Freitas, a candidate running in the state's 7th Congressional District, did not meet ballot qualification requirements for the November ballot, although the Virginia Republican Party confirmed that both names will appear on ballots on Saturday.
On Friday, Chris Martson, the general counsel for the Virginia Republican Party, wrote a letter to the state's Department of Elections asking for an extension for candidates to meet the ballot qualification requirements. A spokesperson for the state party said regardless of Good's filing status, he will be able to receive votes from delegates at the district convention on Saturday.
