Fiorina announces no-name Virginia team as badge of honor for outsider bid
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Version 0 of 1. RICHMOND — Republican presidential hopeful Carly Fiorina on Monday will roll out a Virginia leadership team that relies heavily on little-known grass-roots activists, touting them as a badge of honor in a year of outsider politics. While other GOP contenders have hired current and former elected officials to lead their Virginia campaigns, the former Hewlett-Packard chief executive has no big names on her list. But the value of insiders on the campaign team is very much in question these days. In August, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker snagged one of Virginia’s most prominent Republicans — Sen. Mark D. Obenshain (R-Rockingham), then considered the GOP’s top contender for Virginia governor in 2017. By September, Walker was out of the race. And Obenshain, as it happened, bowed out for governor. Jeb Bush has struggled in the polls despite having former congressman Eric Cantor and former lieutenant governor John Hager on his team. [More Va. pols line up behind Bush after Walker’s exit] Fiorina’s campaign touted her no-name band of supporters as a sign that she was attracting the grass-roots support that conventional Republican and Democratic candidates have so far failed to marshal. Most of those named to her team were identified as “Republican grass-roots activist,” with some corporate, minority business and county-level political credentials mixed in. “Together, these Republicans join a growing group of Americans nationwide who have been moved to support Carly’s candidacy because of her willingness to challenge the professional political class and take on the status quo,” Fiorina’s campaign said in a written statement. “They will help build a grassroots network of support in Virginia and communicate why Carly’s unique and impressive background is what we need in the next President of the United States.” Fiorina’s co-chairs in the state are Jay McConville, former chairman of the Fairfax County Republican Committee and a former defense industry executive; and Fred Thompson, an executive with Thompson Hospitality, which is described on its Web site as the country’s largest minority-owned food service company. The other members of her team are: Bruno Bottcher, activist; Diane L. Cullo, former executive director of the Fairfax County Republican Committee and former executive director of the White House Initiative on Tribal Colleges and Universities; Carrie Edwards, president of White Digital and activist; Mary Grey Edwards, activist; Charles Gloeckner, energy executive; Kristen Manos Kalina, family law attorney and activist; Lolita Mancheno-Smoak, chairwoman of the Mid-Atlantic Hispanic Chamber of Commerce; Dawn Matheson, chief visionary officer of Matheson Group Inc. and co-founder of Modern Republican Women federal PAC; Kerry O’Brien, local businesswoman and activist; Tiffany Webb, activist; and Bill Wilkin, member of the Loudoun County Republican Committee. |