June 9, 2021 News & Press Releases

Virginia Republicans Nominate More Extreme Supporters Of The Big Lie


by Democratic Party of Virginia

Richmond, VA — Virginia Republicans just can't seem to quit Donald Trump's election conspiracy theories. In primary elections for the House of Delegates yesterday, Republicans nominated two more hardline supporters of the Big Lie, defeating longtime members of the establishment in favor of far-right extremists. 

In Southwest Virginia, Republicans kicked 13-year incumbent Delegate Charles Poindexter out of office and nominated conservative activist Wren Williams, who represented the Trump campaign in post-election lawsuits. Williams launched his campaign because Poindexter wouldn't dispute the results of the 2020 election. "We didn’t hear a peep out of my delegate,” Williams said. “Nothing about the election, nothing about Donald Trump, nothing about election integrity."  

In Virginia Beach, GOP voters rejected Chris Stolle - who served ten years in the House of Delegates - in favor of Amanda Chase's lawyer, Tim Anderson. Anderson helped Chase sue the Virginia Senate after she was censured for calling the January 6 insurrectionists "patriots" and spreading the lie that the election was stolen. 

Anderson and Williams will join their fellow Big Lie supporter Marie March on the ballot in November. March won a GOP primary earlier this year despite drawing criticism for attending the January 6 Stop The Steal rally in Washington, D.C. In an interview after her nomination, March warned that House Republican leadership "is not even going to know what to do with me," mirroring similar threats made by Chase.  

"Yesterday's results make it clear that right-wing conspiracy theorists like Amanda Chase are a feature, not a bug, of the Virginia GOP. With Glenn Youngkin spending months refusing to acknowledge Joe Biden won the election and multiple GOP candidates running on the Big Lie, Virginia Republicans are doubling down on the same dangerous lies that led to the violent attack on January 6," said DPVA Communications Director Grant Fox

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