Black Virginia Votes: For the Virginia GOP, Looking Back Will Move Us Forward

By Don Scoggins
Guest Writer, South of the James Blogspot

With the untimely death of Tidewater activist Tony Cobb, it's a good
time for all black Republicans in Virginia to reflect on how far we
have come and how far we still must go. Tony dedicated a significant
portion of his recent years to advancing the GOP agenda, making it a
point to take that agenda directly to black communities in his region.
He cared about his people and his party, and his goal was to unite
both politically, a sentiment that I share. Reflecting on Tony's
service to the party, particularly in light of the recent declines
that we have seen on the statewide and legislative front, has shown me
a few things that need to be shared. Hopefully, Tony's work will not
have been in vain.

For African Americans working in the Republican Party of Virginia, the
past election season was a double-edged sword. For those of us who
worked hard for the GOP ticket, it was disappointing to see Jerry
Kilgore go down to defeat in such an ignominious manner. However, Bill
Bolling and Bob McDonnell were successful, thus giving us statewide
leadership for the next four years. Amidst the disappointment of
seeing another four years of Democratic rule in the Governor's
mansion, several black Republicans were successful at the local level.
Election Day saw two new black sheriffs - Gabe Morgan and Octavia
Johnson, in Newport News and Roanoke, respectively – who won as
Republicans. Despite this, the RPV still has a ways to go in
publicizing these successes if it intends to seriously compete for the
hearts and minds of Virginia's black voters.

Following the election, hundreds of Republicans got together for the
annual Advance at the Homestead. With a combination of wound-licking
and motivational speaking, the RPV was looking to move a new agenda
that would help stymie Democratic gains in the General Assembly, and
prepare the party for the next set of elections. Members of the
party's minority outreach effort held a session to generate new ideas
and thoughts about how to reach diverse communities. Despite our best
efforts, this session was poorly attended, and demonstrated a lack of
commitment on the part of our party to reach into our communities on a
serious level. Having been around the GOP for over 30 years, people
are now telling me that I am swimming upstream in my attempt to get
the RPV to become more sensitive and attentive to black concerns.

Despite his defeat, Jerry Kilgore offered a different approach to
outreach by making himself accessible to blacks on a personal level by
holding events at people's homes and other small events around the
state. This strategy looks to be part of a good model to incorporate
into future campaigns, but it is only one element of what our party
needs to do. Kilgore lacked high-profile black Virginians who had
recognition either on a statewide or local basis. In all honesty, the
Kilgore camp missed a golden opportunity to reach out to blacks this
time around.

Aside from the personal outreach, the campaign made quite a few key
miscalls regarding blacks. The Kilgore campaign failed to recreate the
wonderful model that Jim Gilmore implemented in his 1997 race, in
which he snagged a good deal of black votes, and hurt the Beyer
campaign badly. Gilmore had a committee of homegrown, high-profile
blacks with connection to various communities, such as corporate
professionals, ministers, and business owners. Also, there was a great
organization, Virginians for Black Inclusion in Government (VABIG),
which did great work for Gilmore as ambassadors to black Virginia.

Finally, Gilmore brought on-board Claude Allen and Kay Coles James,
two senior black officials from Governor Allen's administration, to
work on behalf of campaign. 2005 was a great opportunity for blacks to
be tapped into, but the party did not capitalize on it. Given that
blacks in VA went for Bush at 16% in 2000 and 14% in 2004, Kilgore
could have done better if he had worked differently. What is certain
is that more work needs to be done to create lasting bonds between the
GOP and the black community outside of the election cycle.

For example, VABIG was formed during the latter days of the Allen
administration to work toward the next races, and during his term as
Attorney General, Gilmore put together a network of potential black
governmental appointees to give him a head start for his gubernatorial
race and fill roles in his administration. Despite this, after the
Gilmore days were over, it appears as if blacks simply scattered and
were not part of the Republican apparatus. This falling-off was a
major motivator behind the creation of the Frederick Douglass
Republican Forum - something needed to be done to hold black
Republicans together while the GOP did not have the governor's office.

Looking forward, the presence of Paul Harris as a major favorite for a
statewide ticket spot could go a long way to fostering better
interplay between blacks and the Republican Party. Paul has great
connections to many corporate interests, and he has a real shot at
winning the nomination for the Attorney General's race, which if he
won would be a prelude to a run for Governor. If he can establish good
grassroots contacts with local committees, as well as, open-minded
black organizations, it will go along way to shoring up his run.

In my mind, the way for the GOP to better increase its minority
participation, especially for blacks, is to keep working hard and not
give up despite obstacles. On a personal note, I am getting a little
long in the tooth to pursue the goal of more black participation if it
will only remain a people dream. However, since I am an eternal
optimist, I trust that RPV's younger and more enlightened activists
and executives will push our party to abandon the ways of the old
days. Demographically-speaking, if our party keeps ignoring
open-minded, politically-independent, yet culturally-authentic,
blacks, the Republican Party will continue to lose out over time as
whites become smaller as a percentage of the total population and
voting base in VA. The status quo will only keep us failing.

Don Scoggins is the chairman of the Frederick Douglass Republican
Forum and a member of the Prince William County Republican Committee. Previously, he contributed to South of the James' 2005 Virginia
statewide election coverage.