5th District GOP primary could cost taxpayers more than a quarter-million dollars

June's Republican primary election to pick a nominee who will take on U.S. Rep. Tom Perriello, D-5th, in the fall may cost taxpayers more than $260,000.

The 5th District Republican Committee voted 19-13 earlier this month in favor of holding a taxpayer-funded primary rather than a GOP-funded convention.

Primary advocates - most notably candidate Sen. Robert Hurt, R-Chatham - pointed out that state-run primary elections give the most number of voters a say in which candidate the GOP nominates to challenge Perriello.

The GOP primary's six other declared candidates, however, urged the committee to instead go with a convention. One of reasons they cited was that the district's 22 localities must foot the bill of a state-run primary at a time when local governments are facing deep budget cuts and unprecedented revenue shortfalls.

"I'm still disappointed that we went with the primary route because I don't think the public should fund our internal party nomination process," said Chris Schoenewald, chairman of the Albemarle County GOP, who argued in favor of a convention. "It doesn't destroy us as the party of lower taxes and lower government spending, but it does make it more difficult for us to say that we're being fiscally responsible."

A couple hundred thousand dollars of taxpayer funds, Schoenewald said, would be better spent saving the jobs of teachers and other essential local government employees.

The Daily Progress requested cost estimates for the June 8 primary from voter registrars' offices in each of the localities in the 5th District, which stretches from the Charlottesville area down to Southside communities such as Danville and Martinsville.

Fifteen registrars' offices - including Charlottesville and Albemarle County - provided cost estimates that totaled between $185,000 and $262,500.

Seven counties - Brunswick, Cumberland, Fluvanna, Franklin, Halifax, Henry and Lunenburg - either would not or could not provide cost projections this week.

Several registrars said that the expense of the June primary will be particularly painful because it will come at the tail end of a fiscal year marked by budget cuts and slashed state reimbursements.

"It's pretty tight. We've already had to cut from our budget once or twice," said Ercell W. Cowan, Martinsville's registrar, who estimated that that her city will pony up between $5,000 and $6,000 for the primary. "I don't know how we're going to afford it, but the state says we have to, so we'll figure out a way."

Jenny Lee Sanders, Pittsylvania County's registrar, said she dislikes it when either political party holds a state-run primary, as it puts the cost burden on local governments that can ill afford the expense.

"It really does bother me," Sanders said. "I resent it."

Charlottesville's registrar, Sheri Iachetta, noted that primary elections historically have extremely low voter turnout, but nevertheless cost the city somewhere in the ballpark of $30,000. Iachetta added that she is seeking ways to "legally defray" the costs of the June primary, such as reducing the number of workers at polling places and cutting down on the number of voting machines.

Albemarle County, which has the district's highest number of voters, is expected to spend between $55,000 and $56,000 of taxpayer funds on the GOP primary.

The State Board of Elections has not yet formally set the primary election, as it does not typically do so until after the April 14 candidate filing deadline to make sure that more than one candidate is actually running and that a primary is needed.

Along with Hurt, the other candidates in the GOP nomination contest are: Kenneth C. Boyd, a member of the Albemarle County Board of Supervisors; Ron Ferrin of Campbell County; Jim McKelvey of Franklin County; Michael McPadden of North Garden; Feda Kidd Morton of Fluvanna County; and Laurence Verga of Ivy.

Schoenewald and other GOP sources said that two or possibly three more as-yet-to-be-named candidates are also considering jumping into the race.

At least two third-party candidates, Bradley Rees of Bedford County and Jeff Clark of Danville, have also said they plan to run against Perriello and the Republican nominee in November's general election.