InsideNoVa/North Stafford, December 29, 2017

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INSIDE

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Brush up on your health and fitness

Sheriff’s office warns to beware of scammers

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Forge coach Brown takes a step down VOL. 29 | NUM. 43

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WWW.INSIDENOVA.COM

DECEMBER 29, 2017 | NORTHERN VIRGINIA MEDIA SERVICES

It’s not over in 28th District

HO! HO! HO!

ALEX KOMA

akoma@insidenova.com

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fter a second tally of the votes in the House of Delegates’ 28th District, Republican Bob Thomas has held onto a narrow win over Democrat Josh Cole — yet the legal maneuvering in the tremendously consequential race is far from over. Cole requested a recount in the race after Thomas originally appeared to win by just 82 votes. Election officials found on Dec. 21 that Cole gained a total of nine votes on Thomas in another count of the district’s precincts in both Stafford County and Fredericksburg, yet the Republican appeared to maintain a slim victory by a 73-vote margin. A three-judge panel subsequently certified that tally. “The recount confirmed what we have known since November, and we are excited to have Bob join us on the floor of the House when we convene in January,” House Republican Leader Kirk Cox wrote in a statement. “The recount process worked, ensuring every lawful vote was counted. Virginia’s election law lays out clear steps to resolve any other questions, and we hope that our Democratic colleagues will put to rest any unnecessary litigation. Recounts within the parameters of the law are one thing, but fruitless litigation or contests only serve to delay us from our work and weaken this historic institution.” The most heated tangling over the race results are likely still to come. Several Fredericksburg voters, backed by House Democrats, are asking a federal judge to

The Rockhill Volunteer Fire Department played host to Santa with a breakfast for area families and children at the firehouse on Garrisonville Road on Dec. 23. Visitors could have scrambled eggs and pancakes as the youngsters wrote letters to Santa and waited to be photographed in his sleigh. More photos are on page 7. ALEKS DOLZENKO | INSIDENOVA

Anti-Semitic tweets target 1st District race ALEX KOMA

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akoma@insidenova.com

s a veteran of several political campaigns, Nate Salzman is used to attracting a little negativity on social media. On the other hand, winding up on the receiving end of the constant derision of neo-Nazis and white nationalists is a bit of a different experience. For the past eight months or so, Salzman has worked as the campaign manager for Prince William County School Board Chairman Ryan Sawyers’ Democratic bid for Congress. Yet it wasn’t until early December that Salzman found dozens of anti-Semitic replies to a few of his tweets, including death threats and Holocaust references, many from ac-

counts with Nazi imagery. “It was to the point where my phone was getting blown up all the time,” said Salzman, who is Jewish. “I knew these people are out there, and I’d heard some of this growing up, but it’s still jarring to see it in public...It just made me feel pissed off. My first response was, ‘How can I get back at these guys?’” Salzman says he reported some of the more extreme posts to Twitter, which removed some tweets and suspended the users responsible for them, but the site’s administrators declined to act on plenty of others. Though he says the flow of antiSemitic tweets has slowed over the last few days, he still regularly finds a stray reply from users with swasti-

kas or concentration camps featured prominently on their profiles. “This is about intimidation,” Salzman said. “But it doesn’t make me want to stop. In fact, I got up earlier to go to work the day after I first saw this, that’s the mentality I’m taking.” Sawyers, who is one of five Democrats vying for the chance to challenge Rep. Rob Wittman, R-1st District, in 2018, said he’s even been included in some of the tweets directed at Salzman, including a series of creatively phrased death threats sent his way as well. Yet neither the candidate nor his campaign manager are exactly sure why they’ve become targets for this derision on social media. BATTLE

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