38 Facts About Virgil Goode

1.

Virgil Goode was initially a Democrat, but became an independent in 2000 and switched to the Republican Party in 2002.

2.

Virgil Goode was narrowly defeated in 2008 by Democrat Tom Perriello.

3.

Virgil Goode's father served in the Virginia House of Delegates from 1940 to 1948 and as commonwealth's attorney of Franklin County from 1948 to 1972; between them, father and son represented Franklin County at either the local, state or federal level with only one year's interruption from 1940 to 2009.

4.

Virgil Goode is a member of Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity and served in the Army National Guard from 1969 to 1975.

5.

Virgil Goode entered politics soon after graduating from law school.

6.

Virgil Goode was very conservative even by Virginia Democratic standards of the time.

7.

At the Democratic Party's state political convention in 1985, Virgil Goode nominated Wilder for lieutenant governor.

8.

Virgil Goode decided to run for the US Senate again in 1994, to challenge incumbent Democratic US Senator Chuck Robb in the Democratic primary.

9.

Virgil Goode angered much of the leadership of the Virginia Democratic Party during his second run.

10.

When incumbent Democratic US Congressman Lewis Payne decided to retire in 1996, Virgil Goode won the Democratic nomination to succeed him.

11.

Virgil Goode was the first Republican to represent this district since 1889.

12.

In 2008 Virgil Goode lost his seat, being defeated by Democrat Tom Perriello by 727 votes.

13.

Virgil Goode won only one independent city in the district, Bedford, but by only 16 votes.

14.

Virgil Goode mostly held his own in the district's strongly conservative southwestern portion, parts of which he had represented for 35 years at the state and federal level.

15.

Virgil Goode had filed paperwork with the Federal Election Committee to allow him to raise money for a possible rematch in the 2010 elections, due to receiving "unsolicited" campaign contributions, though he said he had not decided whether or not he would run in 2010.

16.

However, Virgil Goode announced in late July 2009 that he would not seek the Republican nomination for the seat in 2010.

17.

Virgil Goode came under considerable fire shortly after being unopposed for a second term in 1998, when he voted for three of the four articles of impeachment against Bill Clinton.

18.

Virgil Goode has sponsored legislation to permit deployment of the US Armed Forces to the US-Mexico border.

19.

Virgil Goode voted in 2002 to authorize the Iraq War and in support of an $87 billion Iraq War supplemental spending bill.

20.

Virgil Goode is an advocate of a federal prohibition of online poker.

21.

Virgil Goode served on the Liberty Caucus, a group of libertarian-leaning congressional representatives.

22.

In 2005, Virgil Goode faced questions when a major corporate campaign donor, defense contractor MZM, Inc.

23.

Some criticized Ellison's intended use of the Qur'an once owned by Thomas Jefferson at a private swearing-in ceremony; among them, Virgil Goode was vocal in his opposition to Ellison's plan.

24.

One of Virgil Goode's constituents posted a letter online from the congressman regarding Ellison.

25.

Ellison offered to meet with Virgil Goode to discuss the matter.

26.

On his first day in office, Ellison sought out Virgil Goode and initiated a cordial exchange on the House floor.

27.

In interviews around that time, Virgil Goode stated that he was in favor of decreasing legal immigration to the United States and that he wanted to do away with Diversity Immigrant Visas.

28.

Virgil Goode argued that such visas would allow people "not from European countries" or from "some terrorist states" to enter America.

29.

Virgil Goode repeated his views on a January 1,2007 post to the USA Today blog.

30.

At the 2008 Independence Day parade in Scottsville, Virginia, independent supporters of Goode drove a Hummer H3 decorated with signs promoting Goode and Robert B Bell.

31.

Virgil Goode never rode in the Hummer, and is not known to have had anything to do with it, but he was widely portrayed as having both owned and operated the vehicle.

32.

Virgil Goode was lampooned on The Daily Show for the story.

33.

The United States Department of Housing and Urban Development grant that Virgil Goode assisted in bringing to the North Theatre project was received by the North Theatre organization in 2005.

34.

Virgil Goode checked with the House ethics committee, before Duncan or his wife Lucy went onto the North Theatre board.

35.

Some observers have suggested that Sabato should have revealed his financial connection to Virgil Goode or recused himself from making predictions about the race.

36.

In November 2010, Virgil Goode joined the executive committee of the Constitution Party, having previously been a member of the party's larger national committee.

37.

Virgil Goode was selected as the party's 2012 presidential nominee on April 21,2012, at the 2012 Constitution Party National Convention in Nashville, Tennessee.

38.

Virgil Goode lost in a poll conducted after the debate to decide who would face off in a runoff debate.