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| Joe Walton |
by Patrick Wilson, Richmond Times-Dispatch
RICHMOND — Two
Democrats are engaged in a closely watched primary contest for the
chance to challenge U.S. Rep. Dave Brat, R-7th. But Brat also has
quietly attracted a Libertarian Party challenger.
Joe
Walton, 42, a Richmond native who has lived in Powhatan County since
2003, is an auditor at Virginia Commonwealth University and a former
chairman of the Powhatan Board of Supervisors. He says he is close to
the 1,000 signatures he’ll need to collect by June 12 to make it onto
the November ballot.
Walton
said the election of Donald Trump as president in 2016, followed by
Brat’s actions in office, prompted him to run. And he wants voters to
have more choices than two “prefabricated candidates from two machines.”
“As
a soon-to-be Ph.D., I respect his academic credentials and the fact
that he was a professor of economics at an institution of higher
education,” Walton said. “I have been surprised at how he has conducted
himself as a representative.”
Specifically,
Walton said, Brat hasn’t held many town hall meetings. “His ability to
relate to the electorate is inconsistent and insufficient.”
And,
he said, one of the most important functions of the House of
Representatives is oversight of the executive branch of government. Brat
has defended the president and criticized attempts to investigate him...
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