Last week, Prince William County Supervisor Bob Weir (R-Gainesville) died at the age of 62 of colon cancer. It struck suddenly, as it usually does. Most of his constituents and fellow politicos had no idea he was ill until he was dead.
Bob was a unicorn in Virginia politics. He was a small-government Republican who fought resolutely against the world’s largest companies and their plans to build endless fields of data centers in Prince William’s Rural Crescent.
Bob first called me in the summer of 2023 to get me involved in the Digital Gateway project. He was a kindred spirit. Totally independent in words and actions. Not beholden to special interests or large donors.
With his passing, the County loses a singular man of courage. Who will step up to replace his voice?
The issue is not just in Prince William County; it is systemic in Virginia.
Over the past generation, the parties have traded control of the Governor’s mansion and Assembly. But no matter which party has control, there is a “hidden hand” dictating policy in both Richmond and the hinterlands. And that flows directly from Virginia’s refusal to enact campaign finance reform.
Virginia remains one of the only states in America where individuals and corporations can donate unlimited funds to elected officials. The influence created by those donations is immense and irrevocably warps our landscape, especially in the outer suburbs. Nearly every official succumbs to it at some point.
Don’t hate the players. Hate the game.
For years, there was legislation filed by me (and others) to limit “super-size” donations. Each year, those bills died in the P&E Committee on a lopsided vote. (As did my bill to prohibit donations by public monopolies like Dominion Power).
After the 2017 election, there was a boost of enthusiasm to enact campaign finance reform. Governor Northam even campaigned on it. Years later, it was a forgotten promise, replaced by paeans to “equity” and “stop the spread.”
This year, neither candidate has pledged to reform Virginia’s election finance laws. That’s too bad.
President Harry Truman once said: “One man with courage makes a majority.”
But we may not even have that anymore.
JCP Notes: On Friday, July 25, Sharon had a starring role in the musical “Guys and Dolls” which played at The Grange in Great Falls. (I had a smaller role as a gangster). All our kids, plus my mom and sister, were there to see it.
In legal news, my client, the Native American Guardians Association, has filed a motion for injunction with U.S. District Court in the Eastern District of New York to halt the unconstitutional state ban on Native names and logos. This matter could be headed to the U.S. Supreme Court. Stay tuned ….