GOP to pick challenger to Northam in state Senate

NORFOLK

Questions about the Republican candidates in Virginia's 6th Senate District contest are bubbling up as GOP delegates prepare to select the party's nominee Saturday.

Joanne Lapetina, an emergency room physician, and Ben Loyola, a Navy veteran and small-business owner, are trying to secure the right to challenge incumbent Sen. Ralph Northam, D-Norfolk. Delegates selected through party units will choose the nominee at a convention beginning at 1 p.m. at Masonic Lodge No. 1, 7001 Granby St.

Both candidates have similar conservative political beliefs, and now their campaigns are dealing with ancillary issues that include where they reside.

Each had to address whether they live in the district, which includes portions of Norfolk, a sliver of Virginia Beach, and all of the Eastern Shore and Mathews County.

Lapetina bills herself as an Ocean View native with deep roots in Norfolk, though some have noted her husband works for state government in the Richmond area and her children attend school there. She works for a Norfolk hospital and the family usually spends weekends together in Norfolk, according to her campaign.

Until recently, she was registered to vote in Richmond, though a spokeswoman said she typically cast absentee ballots because of her work schedule.

Loyola recently relocated from his home in Virginia Beach to a rental property near Joint Expeditionary Base Little Creek that is within the district. A Navy veteran and the proprietor of a firm that does federal government contract work, Loyola has been endorsed by the Hampton Roads Tea Party, Republican U.S. Senate candidate Jamie Radtke, U.S. Rep. Scott Rigell and several other elected Republicans. He also received Tea Party support last year during his unsuccessful bid for the nomination in the 2nd Congressional District, which Rigell won.

That backing has drawn rebuke from some tea party activists, who view the endorsement as the decision of a small group rather than a broad coalition of members.

Hampton Roads Tea Party chairman David Donis said the endorsement evolved from internal group discussions after Loyola demonstrated a strong grasp of policy issues at a June candidate forum.

More recently, Loyola's business dealings have come under question. According to USASpending.gov, Loyola Enterprises Inc. has been awarded 355 federal government contracts, many of them defense-related, worth more than $29 million over the years.

Melody Scalley, a Lapetina organizer, suggested Loyola's acceptance of government contracts is inconsistent with his message of limited government and fiscal austerity.

"Here's a guy saying one thing, but totally making his living off these government contracts," she said. "It seems disingenuous."

In a statement, the Loyola campaign defended the work as responding to the core government function of providing for the common defense by delivering "unique modeling and simulation technology to warfighters, so they can fight smarter and come home safely."

"Ben Loyola is proud of his service and partnership with our military and is certain that his conservative supporters share his support of our armed forces and the constitutional duty to provide for the common defense," a campaign spokesman said.

Julian Walker, (804) 697-1564, julian.walker@pilotonline.com