I have a lot of thoughts on how this race is shaping up. So far there are three candidates from the northern end of the district around Charlottesville. Finding a candidate who can appeal to both conservatives and to Charlottesville is the main test of the Republican nomination fight. With the NRA's endorsement I think Bob McDonnell is well on his way to victory and a favorable 2010 redistricting is in sights for the 5th District. With that in mind Republicans in the 5th need to focus more on a conservative candidate than a Charlottesville candidate. But both would be great!
More of my thoughts will be posted later. For now, more on Boyd's announcement:
After the recent speech by President Obama on health care, many people called me to make sure I would be in the race to take the 5th Congressional seat back from Democrat Congressman Perriello. Several of you asked me for background information to give to other Republicans who have also asked about the race.
Campaign will kick off November 5 and 6
I will be filing my campaign documents and filing fee in the days ahead. Please reply to this email or call 434.326.3522 to let me know you will support my campaign for Congress and/or if you would like to meet with me in Charlottesville (9:30 a.m.), Altavista (12:30 p.m.) or Martinsville (4 p.m.) on Saturday (September 19). But make no mistake, in all of these meetings, I will be encouraging my supporters to work to help the 2009 candidates during the last six weeks of their campaigns. We can do this while helping to build the grassroots support we need in the 5th district to stop the out-of-control deficits that will follow if Congressman Perriello joins Nancy Pelosi and President Obama in backing universal health care and other liberal spending programs. I am not planning to kick off my campaign with bigger, more public events until November 5 and 6 because we must all stay focused on this year's elections. They are too important to the future of Virginia. I believe it is crucial that we all stay focused on maintaining our majority in the House of Delegates. I will be working hard to elect Bob McDonnell, Bill Bolling and Ken Cuccinelli, who, like me, has had to win elections in a heavily Democratic area.
Why I will run
When asked why I am the best Republican to beat Congressman Perriello, I need to borrow a quip from President Reagan and promise not to "exploit for political purposes my opponent's youth and inexperience." Seriously though, the unbelievable deficits being run up in Washington are the result of a combination of a liberal ideology and complete inexperience of those in power at managing a budget. We can blame the Democrats for MOST of this, but how many "conservative" Republicans have disappointed us with out-of-control spending? Our next Congressman must both have a conservative philosophy AS WELL AS have experience managing money and knowing how to go into complicated budgets built by liberal bureaucrats and get rid of the massive wasteful spending that does little or no good.
Stopping overspending for 40 years
I have the experience needed to step in and turn off the free-flowing spending. I have the strongest background for stepping in the way of overspending in DC:
* My college work in Averett University (BBA & MBA) taught me how to control budgets through fiscal responsibility.
* For five years I lived in Martinsville, where my wife Brenda's family would never let me stray far from the fiscal conservative philosophy of Southside Virginia. There were many times we had to say no to our children, Casey, Patrick, Kelley and Cory, because the budget just didn't allow something they wanted.
* I have kept these values during 23 years in the banking business, moving to Albemarle County in 1981, and founding a successful small business, Boyd Financial Services in 1991.
* My message of fiscal responsibility was a tough one in an increasingly Democratic Albemarle, but I stuck to my principles, and was able to win two, hard-fought, close elections by sticking to my principles and governing true to my campaign - by reigning in spending.
We need to bring Main Street ideas and principles to Washington, and you don't get any more Main Street than serving 10 years at the grass roots level of elected local government. Four years on the school board and six as an Albemarle County Supervisor (two as chair) has kept me in touch with the people of the 5th District. We need to stop the pattern of people who go to Washington with little life experiences and become "inside the beltway" politicians out of touch with their constituents. My 40 years of controlling budgets, as well as my ability to stick to these principles in a Democratic leaning county, have prepared me well for both the coming campaign and hard battle that must be fought to protect your tax money and stop plunging our children into debt. As George Allen used to say, "If you work for a living and pay taxes, then you should be on our side."
Conservative on Social and Foreign Affairs
On the Board of Supervisors, we dealt almost exclusively with fiscal issues, so social issues took a back seat. However, for those who say, "I am fiscally conservative but socially moderate," I say that fiscal conservatives cannot afford to pay for socially liberal policies. Recently I fought the Albemarle County Board of Supervisors decision to give $25,000 to a radical population control group called ASAP (http://www.stopgrowthasap.org/) for a study that would determine how many people should be allowed to live in the county. If you can believe it, I recently had to lobby heavily in order to eventually get a unanimous decision from my liberal majority board to allow a small Baptist church to start a Christian school. In moving up to Congress, make no mistake, I will would bring strong conservative values to social and foreign affairs issues as well. I am pro-life, and believe we must defend traditional marriage. I am a gun-owner, hunt, and will protect the 2nd amendment. Now that it has been seven years since the terrorists attacks on our soil, too many politicians are again letting their guard down. We need a strong military - now more than ever - and we simply cannot allow terrorists into our homeland whether they try to take a plane or come over our border.
How I will win
In the coming weeks, the Republican Chairman from each 5th district county and city will gather to decide whether to select the nominee through a primary or convention. Most Chairs initially indicated that they preferred a convention. If a convention is selected, we will fight for the vote of you and potential delegates in every county - not only to win the nomination, but to build a strong grassroots organization to beat the money the Democrats will pour into this district. To join our team, you can come to an organizational meeting on Saturday, September 19 (email for details), your county's meeting in February and then the 5th district convention in May. However, there is always outside pressure on local Republican Chairmen to pick a primary. If that happens, we still need to build the same grassroots organization in every county, but I will spend more money on TV and other advertising. With the deep financial contacts I have developed through 40 years of work in the finance arena, I will raise whatever it takes to win this nomination as well as the general election. I easily put together $61,000 to cover what I needed in a Supervisor's race, and will raise hundreds of thousands of dollars early on to win the primary, if that method is chosen.
Your decision on who to support
When considering which Republican to back for this seat, ask which candidate gives you the best chance to win a true victory for conservatives on November 2, 2010. The Democrats will not let this district go without a nasty fight on their part. They will pour millions of dollars into Congressman Perriello's re-election campaign from liberal interests and national Democratic money. To win this election, I believe we need four things:
1. A challenger who can speak with authority on fiscal and budget matters, and who has the credibility to ensure the voters of the 5th district that he has proven he can stop the big spenders - It is hard to stop the bureaucrats and big spending liberals from finding ways to sneak the money out the back door. On the Albemarle County Board of Supervisors, I have had to look them in the eye and say NO with the numbers to back me up, and I will do the same in Congress.
2. A challenger who knows and shares the conservative values of Southside Virginia - which I do from my years in undergraduate and graduate school, living in Martinsville, and from relatives and in-laws in Martinsville as well as Henry and Franklin counties, who would not even let me think about straying from our shared values if I wanted too!
3. A challenger who can cut Congressman Perriello's margins in Charlottesville and the surrounding areas - I will be the only candidate in this race with a built-in base of support in Albemarle County which I have won over through 28 years of work in the community and two hard-fought election wins.
4. A challenger who has proven he can raise money - I raised $61,000 for a small Albemarle County Board of Supervisors race, and because my professional life consists of calling and getting money from business leaders, I will raise the money it takes to win this race.
I look forward to kicking off my campaign by heading out Route 58 to Brunswick County, and spending a lot of time going up and down Route 15 and visiting every corner of this district as soon as the 2009 campaigns are over.
In the meantime, I appreciate any feedback you care to offer and look forward to seeing you on the campaign trail. If you do want to join us for one of our organizational meetings on September 19, or if you know of an event you would like me to attend, please don't hesitate to call John Pudner at 434.326.3522 and he will give you details.
Ken Boyd
Republican, Albemarle County Board of Supervisors
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