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A Republican House candidate who was present on the Capitol steps Jan. 6 has filed a civil lawsuit against Glenn Youngkin’s campaign for allegedly disposing of campaign materials without permission. Philip Hamilton (R-Charlottesville) says that after he expressed support for allowing the third-party gubernatorial candidate Princess Blanding to participate in debates, his campaign literature and signs that he was storing at the Youngkin campaign office in Charlottesville were never returned to him.
Blanding, the Liberation Party nominee, interrupted the second gubernatorial debate last month calling for her inclusion since she qualified for the general election ballot. Hamilton says he made a Facebook post expressing support for allowing Blanding to participate. He was not allowed into the Youngkin campaign office after that, allegedly.
“McAuliffe and Youngkin were quiet as a Black woman running for governor was escorted from the stage,” Hamilton said in an interview, noting he doesn’t just support Republicans but third-party candidates as well.
After entering the office and asking where his materials were, the Youngkin campaign staffer allegedly told him they removed it. “He said, ‘well because of your support of a third party candidate we decided to remove all your campaign literature and other pieces.’”
Hamilton says they told him he was no longer welcome at the office and they would not allow him to inspect the backroom before leaving.
He then contacted the political director who allegedly told him that the materials were actually given to volunteers, but would not provide him with the names of the volunteers who received them.
Hamilton then waited two weeks before filing the lawsuit on Oct. 15 against the Youngkin campaign and his staffer, Sam Long. He is asking for $2,500 with 6% interest.
The Youngkin campaign did not provide comment for this story.
Hamilton is currently running against Sally Hudson, a one-term delegate that took over the blue seat in HD-57 in 2019. So far, Hudson has raised $155,354 for the election compared to the $9,605 from Hamilton.
Hamilton says he wants to make sure that Youngkin knows his party’s base is not a sure bet for him at the polls this year. He used Youngkin’s comments about the recent removal of the Robert E. Lee Statue in Richmond as an example. “Youngkin can’t just assume that he has the vote of his base, including candidates if he alienates them on certain important issues. He never consulted me about removing the monuments. He lost my faith in that regard.”
Hamilton, a historian, says he supports adding more monuments in honor of the union, instead of removing confederate statues.
“I was very disappointed that Youngkin agreed with Northam and McAuliffe,” Hamilton continued.
Youngkin’s comments at the time were not exactly in line with McAuliffe, who fully supported the removal of the Lee statue.
“First and foremost, there’s no place for violence and tearing down statues,” Youngkin said in September. “And in fact, we can’t airbrush away our history. Our history is our history. So, the Supreme Court, in fact, has ruled on this. And the statue is going to come down and I hope they move it to a battlefield or museum, so we don’t lose the fact that we have a history, we all need to know it.”
Hamilton says he didn’t vote for Youngkin this year. He voted for Sergio de la Pena as a protest vote. “One vote is not going to change an election,” Hamilton said in an interview.
Hamilton has faced criticism in the past for photos and videos he has posted online from the Capitol steps during the Jan 6. Riot in D.C. In an interview, Hamilton told Virginia Scope that he was there to film and only went onto the steps of the Capitol, not inside the building.
Election day is Nov. 2.
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