Senate candidate Chuck Smith attended the March 21 Patrick County Republican Committee meeting.
Smith, of Virginia Beach, who hopes to face incumbent Sen. Tim Kaine in the November election, said the Republican Party is facing critical mass.
“It’s no longer the games that candidates like to play. It’s no longer the games that the workers of the campaigns like to play. We got to get this one right,” he said.
Smith believes this election is about four things: courage, integrity, loyalty, and experience.
“Our guys, our Republicans, have to have courage. We got to stop being weak in the knees,” Smith said, adding that Republicans also must have the integrity to do what they say, and never side with the Democrats on critical issues that affect the foundation of the Republican Party.
“Loyalty to the Republican Party. We have no loyalty to the Democratic Party, we have no loyalty to the independents,” he said, adding an experienced candidate also must run in the election.
He joined the United States Marine Corps in 1970 during the height of the Vietnam War.
“One out of three soldiers were coming home in body bags. A lot of our guys were coming home in body bags, a terrible time,” he said. “Some young people tell stories about courage and the candidates you work for. Let’s not get it confused, courage is courage.”
Smith said he is the only Marine – a retired Navy JAG Commander with 26 years of combined service – among the nine people in the race to face Kaine,
“There’s only one person who’s the former chairman of the largest Republican Party sitting committee in the Commonwealth of Virginia. There’s only one person in this whole race who has practiced law, not just longer than every other person running in this race, but longer than Tim Kaine,” he said.
Smith, who was raised in a church by his grandmother, said he believes in America, “the founding fathers, God Almighty, and We the People.
“It’s precisely because I believe you can count on me to stand for America, stand for Virginia, and stand by the grace of God, come hell or high water no matter what, stand and endorse Donald J. Trump as the next president of the United States of America and never let him down, so help me God,” he said.
Smith stressed he’s not a weak, establishment politician. A pro-life, child safety, and school choice, supporter, Smith also supports the concept of Make America Great Again (MAGA).
“Automatically anti-Democrat and a card-carrying, gun-toting one hundred percent unapologetic supporter of the second amendment to the United States Constitution, our military, and our men and women in blue,” he said.
Smith also wants to take care of veterans, rebuild America’s infrastructure, and become energy independent. He plans to protect families by fighting “wokeism and cultural Marxism, stopping transgenderism, and fixing schools.
“Unlike the weak establishment Republicans who have constantly failed to win a United States Senate seat in over 20 years, the only way to win back Virginia is for a true, Populist conservative to mobilize the old dominion voters on issues they’re concerned about,” he said.
Smith said these include American jobs, secure borders, a strong military, and no more pointless foreign wars.
“Instead of pointless foreign wars, why don’t we stop the influx of illegal immigration, fentanyl trafficking, drug trafficking, human trafficking, sex trafficking across our Southern border,” he said. “Instead of funding foreign wars, why don’t we enshrine election integrity on election day and get rid of absentee balloting and mail-in balloting.”
Representatives from the Gwendolyn “Gwen” Hickman and Scott Parkinson campaigns also attended the committee meeting and spoke about their candidates.
