Skip to content

Virginia House Majority Leader Eyeing Boucher

A high-ranking Republican in the Virginia Legislature is weighing a campaign against Rep. Rick Boucher (D), who is still without a GOP challenger in the state’s southwestern 9th district.Morgan Griffith, the Majority Leader in the GOP-controlled House of Delegates, told the Roanoke Times on Monday night that he is considering a campaign against Boucher. “I think I wouldn’t even be thinking about this if Boucher had been doing his job,— Griffith told the newspaper.Republican campaign officials have had success in the candidate recruitment process this election cycle but have struggled to land a candidate against Boucher, who has dominated his conservative-leaning district in part because of his focus on economic development and his opposition to gun control measures.The National Republican Congressional Committee originally recruited state Rep. Terry Kilgore (R), but he said last week that he would not run.Griffith and other Republicans have sharply criticized Boucher’s vote last June for a bill that would implement a cap-and-trade system to limit emissions of greenhouse gases and require electric utilities to produce a percentage of their power from renewable sources.Griffith lives just barely outside the 9th district, in the 6th district represented by Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R). But a portion of his state House district is within the 9th district and Members are not required to reside in their districts.

Recent Stories

Supreme Court sounds ready to back preventative care task force

Pope Francis, first pontiff to address Congress, dies on Easter Monday

Judge blocks latest attempt to slash CFPB

Supreme Court to hear arguments over preventive care task force

Trump puts Italy’s Meloni in high-pressure role as bridge to EU on tariffs

Supreme Court to review Trump birthright citizenship order