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Corey Stewart is once again wreaking havoc in the Republican Party of Virginia — and splitting the statewide ticket in half. This weekend, Corey Stewart reportedly introduced Lieutenant Governor candidate Jill Vogel at a church on Sunday in Prince William County. The appearance roiled some Virginia Republicans, with conservative blogger Matt Colt Halltweeting that “Did that heathen @CoreyStewartVA burst into flames when he walked into a church?”
But Vogel isn’t backing down. Instead, the LG candidate is doubling down on her embrace of the GOP’s neo-Confederate wing. On Saturday, she will be Corey’s special guest at the Corey Stewart Fall Festival (yes, there is a Corey Stewart Fall Festival.) And on Sunday, she and Corey Stewart will join AG candidate John Adams at Bikers for Trump.
Gillespie is skipping both events — despite the fact that he’s struggling with the Trumpian base. Just last night, Stewart told VICE News that nearly half of his voters aren’t ready to vote for Gillespie — despite Ed moving further to the right on issues like immigration.
John Whitbeck, call your office.
RTD: GOP's Jill Vogel utilizes Corey Stewart in bid for lieutenant governor
GOP gubernatorial nominee Ed Gillespie has avoided primary opponent Corey Stewart, who once slammed him daily until Gillespie edged Stewart in June. But Jill Holtzman Vogel, the GOP's nominee for lieutenant governor, isn't shy about reaching out to Stewart's supporters. Stewart introduced Vogel on Sunday at a megachurch in western Prince William County and she will be the special guest at the Corey Stewart Fall Festival on Saturday. "I have gone everywhere, and I mean everywhere," Vogel, a state senator from Fauquier County, said Monday when asked about her alliance with Stewart, whose base is considered more conservative and rambunctious than establishment Republicans. "I'm trying to build as big and inclusive and cast as broad a net as possible."
VICE
But Stewart — who previously served as Trump’s Virginia campaign chairman before losing by just 5,000 votes to Gillespie in the GOP primary — said conservatives aren’t buying Gillespie’s transformation. “The ads aren’t enough,” he said. “There’s still a segment of people who are just not there yet because they’re waiting for him to signal that he will be tough when he’s governor.” Stewart believes a significant portion of his supporters — as much as half of the more than 155,000 people who voted for him — aren’t on board yet. Those votes could make the difference in a close race.
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