Al Weed
FameRank: 6

"Albert Charles Weed II" is a Virginia winemaker, businessman, and Democratic Party/Democrat. Weed was the Democratic nominee for election to Virginia's Fifth Congressional District seat, in both 2004 and 2006, running against Republican Party (United States)/Republican incumbent Virgil Goode. In 2004, Weed lost 64% to 36%; Goode once again defeated Weed in 2006, 59% to 40%.

Weed, a retired U.S. Army Special Forces Command Sergeant Major and veteran of the Vietnam War, has a B.A. from Yale University and M.P.A. from Princeton University. After working for the World Bank and in the private sector, he purchased a farm where he established a commercial vineyard and co-founded the Virginia Wineries Association. In 2002, Governor Mark Warner named Weed 5th District Trustee for the Virginia Land Conservation Trust Fund.

In 2006, Weed faced competition for the Democratic Party nomination. Former Roanoke, Virginia/Roanoke City Manager Bern Ewert argued that Weed had been beaten "like a drum" in 2004 and would probably lose again. Nevertheless, on May 20, 2006, Weed was chosen as the Democratic nominee by a 114-73 vote of the delegates to the party convention.

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I know this district and I like its people. People like someone who understands where they come from.

One congressman is not going to go to Washington and change the economic history of a district. What a congressman does is change the economic circumstances.

We need a candidate with vision and ideas focused on the 21st century, not someone who distrusts government and expects us to accept recycled 20-year-old policies.

I did volunteer for service in Vietnam and combat there, unlike our congressman who used his daddy's influence to get into the National Guard to avoid it.

I don't think voters can ignore the fact that our congressman seems to have been caught up in the whole culture of corruption up there.

We need to get some leverage from the federal government. There's a lot that can be done, and I believe our congressman should do something about it.

Virgil Goode is vulnerable in a way he has never been vulnerable before.

Together, we will serve the nation, create a unique institution of higher learning and, with hard work, create a new industry and quality jobs that cannot go overseas.

I feel like I learned enough and I have enough name recognition. I feel like I have a good chance this time.