Kurtz explains genesis of School Board candidate social media dust up

Nothing like a little pre-Election Day social media dust up between candidates, critics and supporters to get the political juices flowing, and hopefully the vote out. Such was the case when local attorney David Downes announced his write-in candidacy for the South River School Board seat on “What’s Up Front Royal – Uncensored” on Friday, November 1st.

Downes joins Kristen Pence as a write-in candidate for the seat being vacated by Donna McEathron who is not seeking re-election. There is no candidate on the ballot, nor a nominee from either County political committee for the seat.

However, Pence was one of three School Board candidates, along with Ralph Rinaldi and Arnold Williams, to garner a Republican Committee endorsement.

Steve Kurtz at a recent Republican meeting.

And that endorsement, not to mention a memory – appropriately – like an elephant, was enough to get Warren County Republican Committee Chairman Steve Kurtz into an online exchange with a negative stereotyping of Downes as a candidate of “the liberal left” and the observation “It will be a pleasure to pound you’re *ss into the sand on Tuesday.”

That led Al Larson to reply to Kurtz with the observation, “GETTING CARRIED AWAY AGAIN C’mon Stephen Kurtz ‘…pound your *ss…’ You are talking about a citizen running for office. He is a last minute Write-in, exercising his right to run for office” to which Kurtz responded, “David is good at one thing. Selling tax free beer. He needs to stick to that.”

Asked by Larson, “why the violent reaction?” to Downes write-in announcement, Kurtz wrote, “the Beer Party is going down on Tuesday. If you see or hear from David tell him I will meet him at Skyline High School (South River District voting location) bright and early.”

Kurtz’s comments about “tax-free beer” and “the Beer Party” are references to Downes’ ownership of the Virginia Beer Museum, a 501 C-3 operation next to Downes’ Chester Street law office several doors down from the office space of Ralph Waller often utilized by the county Republican Committee as a meeting space and campaign headquarters. The “Beer Party” name grew out of Downes’ ownership of the Beer Museum and his interest in local politics resulting in endorsements of several candidates in the last election.

Downes at his interview on the Royal Examiner.

Contacted about his social media exchange over the Downes’ write-in announcement, Kurtz reminded us of a little political dust up he had with Downes’ “Beer Party” during the last election that appears to be the answer to Larson’s above-cited question about the genesis of Kurtz’s posts.

That genesis was large Beer Party signs and booths being set up directly in front of Republican Committee signs and booths at two polling places in 2017, the Warren County Government Center and old 15th Street School, now County Government Auxiliary Office space for Social Services, the County Registrar and several other departments.

While Downes wasn’t present at the time he responded to reports of his booths being blocked outside the two polling places, Kurtz said it was pretty clear to him at whose direction those Beer Party personnel on site were acting on. After visiting the 15th Street site and seeing his committee booth blocked, Kurtz admitted by the time he checked the Government Center site out, “I was pretty mad.

“It’s a little ridiculous, I’d never set up to block somebody’s signs – I wouldn’t do that to Democrats. Because you start doing it to one and soon you’re doing it to everybody.”

“Ridiculous” is also a word that Kurtz put on Downes entry into the School Board race five days before the Election.

Downes declined comment on the social media war of words that developed on the “What’s Up Front Royal” website surrounding the posting of his School Board write-in candidacy there and its possible genesis in an Election Day political turf war two years past.

However, in response to Kurtz’s “tax-free beer” comment he did produce a monthly list of 2019 Sales Tax numbers indicating he had paid $3,181.40 in Beer Museum Sales Tax through October of this year. The Beer Museum sells only Virginia-brewed beer and Museum paraphernalia.

Downes referred to his run as an “independent” one in his Royal Examiner interview; and like his Republican-endorsed write-in opponent stressed the importance of a strong, fully-funded public school system for the community. Downes also cited a need for a move to independent political voices locally at this time, an apparent reference to the EDA financial scandal that developed under largely local Republican municipal leadership.

I tell you what, I don’t even live in the South River District but I might show up at the Skyline High School polling place early Tuesday morning to see how part two of that political space turf war picks up from where it left off in 2017.

See interviews with both South River School Board candidates, among others, on the Royal Examiner website.

Meet Kristen Pence, Write-in candidate for South River District School Board

Meet David Downes, Write-in candidate for South River District School Board