Bryce Reeves Is Dropping His Campaign for the U.S. Senate ...
... and speaking openly about the need for a return to moderation in Richmond, and the importance of finding a state Republican Party chair who knows how to talk with the business community.
By Martin Davis
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
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Citing a “serious family health matter,” Virginia State Sen. Bryce Reeves on Sunday announced his withdrawal from the U.S. Senate race. Politico, in reporting the story, said this leaves “Republicans without a leading candidate to unseat three-term Democratic Sen. Mark Warner.”
In an interview on Monday afternoon with the Advance, Reeves provided more details about why he is withdrawing from the race.
“On Christmas,” he said, his wife’s mother informed them that she has terminal cancer, and according to Reeves “realistically she has less than 9 months. Right now,” he continued, “my family needs me more than anything.”
Among those he works with in the Virginia Senate, Reeves said that he has received great support “from colleagues both left and right.”
He will continue in his role representing Virginia Senate District 28, which includes parts of Spotsylvania County.
Reeves, who has served in the Senate since 2012, is a longtime defender of the rules and procedures that govern the General Assembly. And he hopes that as Gov.-elect Abigail Spanberger takes the reins of power in January there will be a return to moderation in state government.
“I know there are moderate Democrats in the state senate,” he told the Advance. “I hope you’re going to see a shift back to moderation.”
Re-districting efforts by Democrats in the General Assembly will be an early test for how likely moderation is to find its way back to Richmond.
“Nobody wants to play by the rules anymore,” Reeves said. “We went through all of this [redistricting] with leveler heads early on, and that’s why we have the commission we have. And voters voted on it.”
Gov.-elect Abigail Spanberger has not voiced support for mid-decade redistricting, but Congressional representative Rob Wittman (Va. - 1) recently called out Spanberger on the move and the two engaged in a tense verbal exchange.
In the Wilderness
The next leader of the state’s Republican Party is of particular concern to Reeves at the moment.
“We need a leader who can go out and speak to the business community,” he told the Advance, “and [who] knows what needs to get done.” The base of the Republican Party, he said, “doesn’t understand how government really works. To govern you have to cover everything.”
For now, Reeves said, “We’re in the wilderness, and we have to lead. … But we need the right leadership in the party.”
Key to the new leader’s responsibilities will be defining who and what Republicans are.
The party’s inability to do that cost them in November, Reeves said, when Republican gubernatorial candidate Winsome Earle-Sears and President Donald Trump would not stand behind one another.
“Republicans don’t do a good job articulating what we are,” he said, “when POTUS is sucking the air out of the room.”
That lack of leadership and clear messaging is what allowed Democrats nationally to target Virginia and make the gubernatorial election a referendum on Trump, said Reeves.
Looking Ahead
While a bipartisanship may seem out of reach, Reeves remains confident that it can return beginning with the new session. “I’m the only Republican chairman in a Democratic-led Senate,” he said. They wouldn’t be the case if legislators couldn’t see past politics to the willingness and ability of people serving to solve problems.
Thus, Reeves is looking forward to returning to session and getting to work on some of the bills he will be carrying, including ones around artificial intelligence and veterans.
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