Virginia GOP Senate candidate Corey Stewart called on the Republican speaker of the House of Delegates in Richmond to resign after the GOP signed off on a plan to expand Medicaid under Obamacare.
Republicans in the Old Dominion had long opposed Medicaid expansion, but switched gears after losing 16 seats in the House of Delegates in the 2017 election and seeing their majority in the lower chamber shrink to a single seat.
“Speaker Kirk Cox has proved he may as well be a Democrat since he’s pushing to expand Obamacare in Virginia,” Mr. Stewart said. “So every Republican in the House of Delegates should call for his resignation immediately.”
Parker Slaybaugh, Mr. Cox’s spokesman, dismissed the attack, saying Mr. Stewart, who is running as an acolyte of President Trump, is seeking attention.
“We have serious state issues we’re dealing with, and this is just another unserious attempt by Corey Stewart to grandstand and make himself relevant,” Mr. Slaybaugh said.
Lawmakers in Richmond have yet to finalize the expansion of Medicaid, and the fate of the proposal could be decided over the coming days as they wrap up their legislative session.
Mr. Stewart said the proposal should already be dead, and Mr. Cox is to blame.
“Republicans in Richmond have one job: to stop Democrats from destroying our state with massive entitlement spending, and they can’t even be counted on to do that,” Mr. Stewart said. “It’s time for Cox to step aside, and to separate the men from the boys in the House of Delegates.”
Mr. Stewart is running for the GOP Senate nomination and the chance to take on Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine in the general election.
The most recent fundraising reports show that Mr. Kaine has raised more than $9.6 million for his re-election and had $9.2 million cash on hand. Mr. Stewart, meanwhile, had raised $388,000 and had $175,000 cash on hand.
• Seth McLaughlin can be reached at smclaughlin@washingtontimes.com.
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