Updated: Va. Beach GOP head resigns over racist email

Updated: 11:30 p.m. The chairman of the Virginia Beach Republican Party, David Bartholomew, has resigned following an incident involving a racist email, according to Gary C. Byler, the 2nd Congressional District GOP chairman. Byler blamed political operatives for using the issue to try to hurt Republican congressional candidate Scott Rigell and the entire GOP ticket.

"Let me make it clear David Bartholomew does not tolerate racism. He never has,'' Byler said. "David would never knowingly forward racist material.''

Original post:

The chairman of the Virginia Beach Republican Party faced pressure to resign Monday after he allegedly forwarded a racist email that ended up on the Internet.

Both auto dealer Scott Rigell, the Republican candidate in the 2nd congressional district, and his opponent Rep. Glenn Nye (D) called on David Bartholomew to step down from his post as head of the local GOP. Bartholomew had not responded to an email requesting comment as of this posting.

The email from Bartholomew, which was obtained by and posted on the liberal blog Blue Virginia, included a joke about someone trying to obtain welfare for their dog, who is "black, unemployed, lazy, can't speak English and has no frigging clue who his Daddy is." Bartholomew has not yet spoken up to say whether the message is or is not from him, but the address at the top of the email message matches the chairman's personal address.

Blue Virginia posted the item Monday afternoon. Just after 5 p.m., Nye's campaign issued a statement from the lawmaker, one of the most endangered incumbents in the country, saying: "This type of racist behavior has no place in politics. I call on Dave Bartholomew to resign immediately. I also call on Scott Rigell to join me in condemning this divisive, narrow-minded behavior by demanding Bartholomew's resignation."

Just after 7 p.m., Rigell came out with a statement of his own: "The email sent by Republican Party of Virginia Beach Chairman David Bartholomew is reprehensible. It stands in stark contrast to the core values of the Republican Party, the party of Lincoln, and my personal belief in a colorblind society. I call upon Mr. Bartholomew to immediately resign his position as Chairman of the Republican Party of Virginia Beach."

A spokesman for the state Republican party had not responded to a request for comment as of this posting.