Ward Armstrong is unhappy. The leader of the Democratic minority in the House of Delegates isn’t pleased with proposed redistricting maps that would place him in the same district as Republican Del. Don Merricks. Population shifts are the reason given for moving Armstrong’s 10th district to under-represented Northern Virginia. But in Armstrong’s case, it may simply be business as usual.
The Roanoke Times recounts how, since the early 1990s, each party has stuck it to the other in Southside and Southwestern Virginia. After the 2000 census, former House Democratic leader Dickie Cranwell retired after he was lumped into another incumbent’s district. Arguably he went on to somewhat better things, including becoming head of the state Democratic Party.
That same year, Armstrong, was redrawn into a district with two other incumbent legislators, including my (Democratic) friend Barnie Day. Day and fellow Democrat Tom Jackson stepped aside to give Armstrong a clear path in the election.
While this lumping and bumping has become a regional ritual, Armstrong is trying to cast his fate as payback for all the trouble he’s made during the last decade:
“’I’ve been hearing rumors for at least several weeks that the district was going to be split up in order to get rid of Ward Armstrong,’” said Armstrong, the House minority leader. “’I’ve angered the big boys — the electric utilities, the telephone industry … in speaking out against Republicans when they refused to protect the average citizen, which is what’s been done for the past two years. It’s no wonder they want to get rid of Ward Armstrong.’”
I think Ward may have been channeling the late “Howlin’”Henry Howell with that statement. However, let’s take Mr. Armstrong at his word for a moment. The nefarious Republicans are out to get him. What are his alternatives? He says he will run in the new district. He may even win, and then proceed to become an even bigger fighter for the little guy.
Or he could conserve his resources and begin laying the groundwork for his rumored run for statewide office.
Either way, Virginia has likely not seen the last of the “Little Red Hen” from Henry County. That’s a good thing for those of us who love political theater…and politicians who wear kilts.
