Richmond merchant to speak at GOP convention

A Richmond-area small-business owner has been selected to speak Wednesday at the Republican National Convention in St. Paul, Minn.

Christy Swanson, whose business takes cooking oil from restaurants for conversion into biodiesel fuel, said she has historically voted for Democrats and had initially planned to support that party’s presidential candidate, Barack Obama.

That changed after she attended a small business summit this year and heard remarks from Sen. John McCain about his economic plans.

After that forum, Swanson “did additional research” on the GOP candidate and “became very interested in his tax proposals.”

She is now vice chairwoman of the Virginia Citizens for McCain group, whose members identify themselves as Democrats or Independents who plan to vote for McCain for president.