Thursday morning, Politico ran a story implying that Republican congressional candidate Barbara Comstock hasn’t been sufficiently forthcoming about her business relationship with the Workforce Fairness Institute during her time as a Virginia state legislator. Comstock was paid by the organization to help publicly oppose on a federal level a few labor regulations that conservatives have long opposed (e.g., making cable television appearances to oppose them), while she was pushing for certain similar measures at the state level in the Virginia legislature.
In response to the story, Comstock’s campaign manager Susan Falconer released the following statement to National Review Online:
Barbara Comstock disclosed her federal clients under Virginia law as required. The Politico story suggesting otherwise is patently false. It is no secret that Barbara Comstock has worked in a public and open fashion – on TV, radio, and in print — advocating right to work policies. Further, it’s bizarre that Democrats are attacking Barbara for saving Virginia taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars by passing competitive bidding legislation and protecting the right to a secret ballot. In contrast, John Foust, has supported over a trillion dollars in tax increases and opposed these right to work measures at the behest of his union boss friends who are now funding his campaign with over $100k in direct campaign contributions.
Comstock is running to fill the congressional seat held by retiring Republican Frank Wolf. This afternoon, Roll Call reported that the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has canceled $2.8 million worth of advertising air time it had reserved in the district. It appears to be shifting the money to respond to a Republican onslaught against a freshman Democratic congressman in California.