http://www.timescommunity.com/site/t...d=506105&rfi=6
Miller wins GOP nomination in 50th District
By Dan Roem
06/21/2006
Email to a friendPost a CommentPrinter-friendly
Local Republicans gathered at a convention hosted by Osbourn High School Saturday and nominated - by a narrow margin - City of Manassas Councilman Jackson Miller to run for the House of Delegates in the 50th District. The seat was left vacant by the death of Harry J. Parrish.


Fifty delegates from Manassas Park, 507 from the City of Manassas and 107 from Prince William County delivered 199.22 votes for Miller and 195.78 votes for local attorney Carroll Weimer. The 664 delegates cast weighted ballots. The final tally was so close that if three people shifted their votes from Miller to Weimer, it would have been tied.


"It feels great," Miller said after the convention. "It's a little bit bittersweet because [Weimer's] a great friend."

"I'm disappointed," Weimer said, "but I'm behind Jackson 100 percent."

Delegates began gathering around 8 a.m. to pick up name tags and meet the candidates. By 9 a.m., the official start time, the parking lot was full.

Two speakers for each candidate addressed the crowd before the candidates spoke. The vice mayor of Manassas, Harry J. "Hal" Parrish Jr., the son of the former delegate, said he endorsed Weimer because Weimer is a "conservative Republican that has lived here all his life" who is dedicated to "family values and ... fiscal conservatism."

The vice mayor went on the offensive against the Democratic nominee Jeanette Rishell. Hal Parrish did not mention the name of the 56-year old Manassas Park resident and did not state Rishell's stances on any issues. Rather, he said she is "far too liberal" and "she is not someone we wish" to represent the district.

Former Manassas mayor John Weber said Weimer, a former police officer, "is a moderate Republican who [is in] the mold of Harry Parrish [Sr]."

Though the former mayor called him a moderate, Weimer told the delegates, "I am a traditional conservative."

Weimer's support for Virginia's same-sex marriage amendment, which would ban same-sex marriages and will be offered on the ballot this fall, brought applause from the delegates. They also cheered his tough stance on illegal immigration.

"We must take action to save our communities," Weimer said. "Stop accommodating those who break the law."
Weimer said he supports using the commonwealth's surplus to fund transportation costs for Prince William County instead of raising taxes. "The area that spends the most should get the most."

City of Manassas councilman-elect Marc Aveni spoke first on behalf of Miller. "There are three very important issues," he said. "The sanctity of human life, illegal immigration and taxes."

Aveni said Miller was "the pro-life candidate" in the race, though Weimer also said he was pro-life.

"I hope I don't have to tell Republicans that high taxes are un-American," Aveni said.

Miller's wife Suzanne said her husband "was put on a hit-list" by the notorious MS-13 gang "because he arrested so many of them" while he was a police officer in Arlington County. She also told the delegates that her and Miller believe "every child is a gift from God and a miracle."

Dozens of delegates raised red and yellow "Miller" signs when their candidate spoke. Miller pounced on the red-hot topic of illegal immigration, saying in order to scale down the "influx of illegal immigrants" in the county, "state and local governments must step to the plate" when the federal government will not.

Miller spoke about transportation and taxes at the same time, noting that "transportation funding has not been changed in 20 years," and Prince William County only receives "29 cents for every dollar" of taxes paid. He said he "was the Republican who bucked Republican leadership" on the city council when he opposed the development of a four-story condo in the middle of Old Town Manassas. "I stood with small business owners," he said.

Miller told the largely pro-life audience that he would "protect human life ... that I do vow to you." He closed by saying he was his own man that would not vote "based on pressure from Republican leadership or special interest groups" if he were to make it to Richmond.

At the end of Miller's speech, delegates from the three jurisdictions voted.

David Pfister of Manassas said he supported Miller because "he had more of a proven track record" than Weimer. Pfister said the most important issues to him were illegal immigration and taxes. "In the case of taxes, that's a constant ... [As for] immigration, it affects the future."

Linda Bowie of Manassas voted for Miller because she said she hopes "he will be able to stop the hemorrhaging of illegal immigration today." She said illegal immigration is "impacting schools, communities, [and] traffic to a highly congested area."

Craig Pumphrey of Manassas said he voted for Weimer because they both attend Manassas Church of the Brother. "Both seemed like good candidates," he said, but he supported Weimer in the end because "he goes to my church."

John Barrett of Prince William County said he voted for "the better of two evils" when supporting Weimer. "Both candidates are very similar," he said. The most important issue to Barrett was illegal immigration. "There's overcrowding of the residential areas," and there are a "number of cars parked on the streets," he said.

Steven Cheney, a pro-life Republican representing Prince William County, said he supported Miller.

"Either one would be a good," he said. Cheney said it didn't "make any difference" to him that neither candidate supported abortion rights, but he felt Miller was the more qualified candidate of the two because he had experience "fighting in a legislative type of environment" while on the Manassas City Council.

Sandra Ceccarelli, a senior citizen from Prince William County, also supported Miller. "He's real interested in curtailing immigration [and he] supported a lower tax base," while he was on city council, she said. "I've lived here 40 years," Ceccarelli said, "I don't know if I can stay here. I can't afford it."

Ceccarelli said, "Democrats are taxing us to death," though Republicans control both the U.S. and Virginia legislatures. "I was against tax-raising, period," she said.

She said her utility and real estate taxes are causing her the most problems. "We need phones, we need heat, but it's the illegal immigrants that are taking a lot of our tax money," she said.

Janice Rayl of Manassas Park supported Weimer because she has "known him since high school. We were in junior rescue squad together as teenagers." She said Weimer could help "figure out a better system for immigration."

As a home nurse, Rayl said she has seen "five or six families" of illegal aliens all sharing one house with "five or six people" living in a single room. Rayl said that while those people should be taken care of, "if we promote people not following the law, then we're just making up for a lawless society."

Roger Simond Jr. of Manassas said he voted for Weimer because he has "known Mr. Weimer for years." He said he hoped the 50th's next delegate could become "entrenched" with other state politicians. "To get along, you have to go along sometimes," he said.

Simond said he was most concerned about illegal immigration, but wanted a practical solution to the problem that would result in illegal aliens paying equal taxes.

For illegal aliens with American-born children, he said it is "not practical to get them out of the country." "I support registration" of illegal aliens, he said. "Make them part of the tax base."

Xerk White, a senior citizen and former Manassas City Council member, said Weimer would have been "the kind of candidate we sorely need in Richmond." White particularly honed in on the communications skills required for the job. "Not being willing to compromise" is bad, he said, because politics "is the art of compromise."

White said Weimer would not "fall on his sword for the third [objective] if he gets the first two."

Though White held Miller in high regard, he questioned his motives, because Miller is running for higher office after not completing his first term on the Manassas City Council. "It's disingenuous after two years to not serve out [his] term," White said. "It smacks at the game of opportunistic."

Sandra Elam of Manassas Park had initially supported Steve Chapman's short-lived candidacy before it crumbled after the 28-year-old missed a filing deadline. Elam supported Miller after inquiring with Chapman and former Republican state Senate nominee Bob FitzSimmonds about which candidate would be the "best pro-life candidate."

Elam said illegal immigration was her second most important issue. "When I go into the stores or fast food places, they don't understand English," she said of illegal alien employees.

She also blamed graffiti on Euclid Avenue on MS-13, the same gang who put Miller onits hit list. "Crime and the lack of understanding the language" were the two biggest problems Elam said she associated with illegal immigration.

Noreen Slater, who serves on the Manassas Park Governing Body, said he voted for Weimer, though he felt they were "both excellent candidates." Hal Parrish's support for Weimer ended up being the clincher for him.

"I liked his stance" on illegal immigration, Slater said of Weimer. "The feds have done nothing and [the state] pulled the rug out from the localities' feet."

Leonard Pumphrey, a civics teacher from Manassas who teaches at Manassas Christian and used to teach at Jennie Dean Elementary, voted for Weimer because "Carroll Weimer's my lawyer."

Illegal immigration served as the dominant issue for Leonard Pumphrey as well. "I don't know if it does or doesn't," impact him personally, he said. "We don't know if they're paying their fair share [of taxes]."

Many of the Republicans at the convention also had words of remembrance for their late delegate, Harry Parrish Sr.
"A true Virginia gentleman," Slater said. "[Parrish had] strong family values, strong social values and a strong sense of justice."

"Irreplaceable," Mayor Waldron said of Parrish. "He was the father of the community."

"[Parrish] was a classic, honorable, Virginia gentleman," Miller said. "Not a bad bone in his body."

"He was an old-fashioned southern gentleman," Cheney said. "He always did what he thought was best for the district."

At 12:47 p.m., Mayor Waldron told the remaining delegates "we have a winner." Once he announced Miller as the winner, several delegates screamed in delight. Scores of Weimer supporters headed toward the exit.

"I'm going to support Jackson Miller for the 50th House District," said Manassas mayor and temporary convention chairman Douglas Waldron, who had been neutral during the nominating process. "He has my full support."



©Times Community Newspapers 2006