Forbes easily wins GOP nod

Associated Press

Updated: Jun 13, 2012 8:04 AM

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Congressman Randy Forbes has easily won the Republican primary for a seventh consecutive term from southeastern Virginia's 4th District.

Forbes, from Chesapeake, won nearly 90 percent of the vote in Tuesday's primary over political newcomer Roberta "Bonnie" Girard, a Petersburg businesswoman with experience negotiating American trade contracts with China.

Girard campaigned partly on a claim that Forbes is naive in his outlook toward China, the lone Communist superpower and a major U.S. creditor.

Forbes defends his seat this fall against the winner of a Democratic primary in the same district between Chesapeake City Councilwoman Ella Ward and Joe Elliott, a Colonial Heights minister and small businessman.

The district stretches from Hampton Roads westward along the North Carolina border, then angles northwestward, taking in some of Richmond's southern suburbs.

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