Del. Tim Hugo is slated to become the first Northern Virginia Republican in years to hold a top leadership role in the House’s GOP majority.
Hugo is running unopposed to replace Del. Sam Nixon as GOP caucus chairman after the only other challenger, Del. John O’Bannon, dropped out of the intramural race. He is slated to be elected on Wednesday.
For a caucus that exerts such outsized power in the General Assembly — one allied along partisan lines with the governor and attorney general — the most populous part of the state is curiously unrepresented among the top brass.
Speaker Bill Howell hails from Fredericksburg. Majority Leader Morgan Griffith represents Salem. Nixon’s former district sits in suburban Richmond. And Majority Whip Kirk Cox is based in Colonial Heights.
Hugo said he doesn’t see any “animus between the House leadership and Northern Virginia.”
Nevertheless, “it will be good for Northern Virginia to have a seat at the table in the House.”
The central fracture in the legislature is often perceived — though not always accurately — as one between rural, conservative Republicans and urban, liberal Democrats.
But regional loyalties frequently have trumped party. When Gov. Tim Kaine proposed to freeze a schools funding formula at the expense of wealthy Washington suburban counties, both Republicans and Democrats from the area mounted a successful campaign to reverse that plan.
“That was obviously a gratuitous slap by former Gov. Tim Kaine at Northern Virginia, which was unfortunate,” Hugo said. “Hopefully, I’ll have an opportunity to help the commonwealth and help Northern Virginia in this role.”
The House caucus chairman helps set the agenda and formulate policy for the Republican majority. Nixon vacated the role after Gov. Bob McDonnell appointed him head of the Virginia Information Technology Agency.
Republicans, who were already in the majority before the 2009 elections, strengthened their hold on the House with the Republican sweep in November. The Virginia Senate is controlled by Democrats, though by a slimmer margin.
