Today was a big day for news about Virginia’s 1st District.
It started with the release of a new Washington Post-Schar School poll showing Taylor is preferred by 50 percent of likely voters, compared with 46 percent for Wittman. The poll is the latest sign that Democrats have increasing momentum in Virginia heading into Election Day next month.
Then came a new Wittman ad in direct response to Taylor’s claims that he got rich from stock trades while in office.
Wittman says that’s wrong: His wealth has grown from what he inherited after the deaths of his parents and his in-laws. You can hear Wittman talk about some of this directly with Brandon Jarvis at Virginia Scope in an interview published today.
As I report in my story today, there’s no denying that Wittman’s wealth has grown since he got elected to Congress in 2007. And his financial disclosures show that he owns shares in companies from a range of industries.
Wittman notes that he is not personally involved in his stock trading, which is handled by his financial advisor.
He also says he supports banning stock trading in Congress, but that comes after he made money on a stock trade earlier this year.
Will voters buy that Wittman’s wealth is simply the result of an inheritance and smart decisions by his financial adviser?
Or does that argument fall flat in an environment where people broadly feel that our political system is rigged against them and in favor of people in power?
We’ll find out in about a month.
