8th House of Delegates District Update: Turner gains endorsement of Salem Mayor over Griffith

In what was considered by most state political pundents as a non-race, it seems that the switch of challengers for House Majority Leader, Morgan Griffith (R-Salem), has presented him with a bit of a wrinkle. In a statement released by the Cater Turner for Delegate Campaign, Salem City Mayor Byron R. "Randy" Foley is giveing Turner his full throated support for the 8th House District:

“I am proud to announce my endorsement of Carter Turner for the Virginia House of Delegates in the 8th District. Carter has been my close friend for over thirty years, and I am confident that he has the intelligence, demeanor, and vision to bring effective leadership to Richmond. Please join me in supporting Carter Turner as he works to move our city, district, and state forward.”

Mayor Byron R. “Randy” Foley
Salem, Virginia

According to Turner, “Having grown up in Salem, with deep ties to this wonderful community, I am extremely honored to have Mayor Foley’s endorsement. I look forward to representing our district in Richmond with the same non-partisan focus on solutions that I continue to hear supporters say we need.”

While I'm not sure of the full extent of the relationship between Mayor Foley and Delegate Griffith, it is clear that a 30 year friendship goes a lot father in Salem than Republican Paty senority. This has to be at least a little disconserting for Delegate Griffith. I will be keeping my eye on this contest.

Star City Harbinger/Off K Street EXCLUSIVE: Carter Turner takes over as the Democratic Candidate against Morgan Griffith in the 8th House District

I came off the bench today to help out my friends at the Star City Harbinger cover the Carter Turner annoucement. So, this is a co-Exclusive.

Today in Salem, at the entrance to the Roanoke County Courthouse, Carter Turner stepped in to become the Democratic Candidate for the 8th House District. Former Democratic Candidate Jenny Weisz decided last week that she would withdraw from the race to concentrate on her Doctoral Studies at Radford University. Despite his late entrance into the race, Turner seems confident that he will be able to compete against the 15 year incumbent and House Majority Leader for the Republicans, Morgan Griffith.

Carter Turner has a number of things in his favor that previous candidates who have run against Morgan Griffith didn’t have. First is that Carter grew up and went to school in Salem, and also played Football at Salem High School on their 1986 Regional Championship football team. This is something that matters in Salem. He attended Virginia Tech and graduated with a degree in History. So, Turner is a bonafide local boy. After graduating from Virginia Tech, he went on to get his M.A. from the Iliff School of Theology and his Ph.D. in Religious and Theological Studies from the University of Denver.


He's currently an Assistant Professor of Religious Studies at Radford University and was most recently involved in the rezoning fight next to the Glenvar School area over the proposed rock quarry. Here is my post-announcement podcast interview with Cater Turner:

Delegate Morgan Griffith and the traveling Seal Show!!!

While at the Salem Fair this weekend, I came across this scene. I'm not quite sure what Delegate Griffith (R-Salem) had in mind by hanging his campaign banners at a traveling Seal Show, but there they are. There's gotta be an appropriate metaphor that fits this image. Regardless, if the Republican Majority Leader for the House of Delegates is looking for applause from the crowd for being one of the leaders in the House that voted down extension of Unemployment Benefits to struggling Virginia workers, the only ones clapping are the seals.

Traveling carnivals are notorious for rigged games, lame sideshows (Bearded Lady, Smallest Horse in the World, Monkey Boy), shaky rides and P. T. Barnum. I guess the message here from Delegate Griffith is "There's a sucker born every minute." In stead of throwing him a fish, maybe voters in the 8th House District should just throw him out of office.

If you want to suggest a good, bad, witty, or lame label for this picture, feel free to comment. Who knows, we can make a contest out of this and see where it goes.