Speaker William J. Howell wins Republican nomination in Virginia’s 28th House District

The following is a release from Delegate Bill Howell:

Virginia House of Delegates Speaker William J. Howell secured the Republican nomination in the 28th District Tuesday, defeating Susan Stimpson by 24 points. Howell won by over 1,800 votes out of the roughly 7,500 cast. The race was the largest two-way Republican House primary in Virginia since 1999. Howell issued the following statement on the race:

“Cessie and I are so grateful for the support we received today and throughout this entire campaign. It’s been a privilege to represent this community in the House of Delegates. I deeply appreciate the opportunity to continue to serve and am honored to have the trust of my fellow citizens.

“I am immensely proud of the positive, grassroots campaign we ran. This was truly a team effort from the very beginning. We are blessed to have made so many friends over the years. There are far too many people to thank: our campaign staff, every #WeKnowBill story, friends who invested their own money and the hundreds of volunteers who knocked on doors, made phone calls, wrote postcards, put up signs and shared our message. It is hard to put into words the gratitude that we have. I also want to thank the election workers and volunteers who made Election Day run so smoothly. Their contributions to democracy are invaluable.

“I appreciate Susan’s contributions to the democratic process. She is passionate and relentless and I respect her willingness to participate. When this race started, I said that no one is entitled to the privilege of public service and that I believed competition was healthy and positive for our party.

“I also believe that unity is critical to the success of party as we try to build our majority in the House, retain control of the State Senate, win the White House in 2016 and win back our statewide offices in 2017. Today's results demonstrate that the results-oriented, conservative governing philosophy on which this campaign was based and by which the House of Delegates has governed gives our party the best chance to win. These policies, values and principles also offer our fellow citizens the best opportunity for prosperity and happiness. I know that our party will emerge stronger than we started and I look forward to helping Republicans win this fall.”