MORE: 10th District town hall goes on without Rep. Comstock [View all]

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MORE: 10th District town hall goes on without Rep. Comstock

Saturday, Feb. 25, 2017 by Chantalle Edmunds

The Sterling Community Center was bustling Friday night with around 150 10th District constituents hoping to put questions and comments to U.S. Rep. Barbara Comstock (R-Va.-10th) in a town hall-style meeting.

At the front of the hall sat table and chairs, with one seat set for the congresswoman. The chair, as expected, remained empty for the course of the evening. Earlier in the week, Comstock's Deputy Chief of Staff Jeff Marschner said she couldn't attend the meeting because of a long-standing prior commitment. Marschner made reference to the two tele-town halls the second-term representative has held as a way of talking to thousands of her constituents “in a civil and conversational manner.”

Todd Kliman, described by organizers as an author, essayist, critic, food writer, speaker and teacher from Maryland, served as moderator. ... “Tonight is about you,” he began. “Whether or not Rep. Comstock is joining us or not.”
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Receiving a standing ovation and the biggest cheers of the evening was retired Air Force colonel and former Loudoun County Democratic Committee Chairman Mike Turner. ... Producing a small blue book from his jacket pocket, which turned out to be the Constitution, Turner, who had run for Comstock's congressional seat as a Democrat back in 2008, waved it in the air and said: “I served for 28 years wearing an Air Force uniform protecting this … in my wildest dreams I never imagined the chief enemy of this document would be the President of the United States,” Turner said. “When the impeachment comes, and it’s coming … when the impeachment comes, Rep. Comstock, will you vote with your constituents for the people who pay your salary or not?”