Barbara Comstock

Barbara Comstock
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Virginia's 10th district
Incumbent
Assumed office January 3, 2015
Preceded by	Frank Wolf
Member of the Virginia House of Delegates from the 34th district
In office January 13, 2010 – November 10, 2014
Preceded by	Margaret Vanderhye
Succeeded by	Kathleen Murphy
Personal details
Born	Barbara Jean Burns (1959-06-30) June 30, 1959 Springfield, Massachusetts, U.S.
Political party	Republican
Spouse(s)	Chip Comstock (1982–present)
Children	Daniel, Peter, Catherine
Alma mater	Middlebury College (B.A.) Georgetown University (J.D.)
Religion	Roman Catholic
Website	Campaign website

Barbara Jean Comstock (born June 30, 1959) is an American politician, currently a Republican member of the U.S. Congress from Virginia's 10th District. From 2010 to 2014, she was a member of the Virginia House of Delegates. She first won election to her seat in 2009, defeating Democratic incumbent Margaret Vanderhye. She has worked at numerous positions for various government agencies, including chief counsel of the House Government Reform and Oversight Committee, director of public affairs at the Department of Justice, and as a staffer for Congressman Frank Wolf. She is a founding partner and co-principal of opposition research and public relations firm Corallo Comstock.

On January 7, 2014, Comstock announced her candidacy for U.S. Congress from Virginia's 10th District. She won that election and took office in January 2015.

Career

Comstock began her congressional career as an intern for Senator Ted Kennedy. After working as a lawyer in private practice, Comstock served from 1991–1995 as a senior aide to Congressman Frank Wolf. Comstock then served as chief investigative counsel and senior counsel for the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Government Reform from 1995 to 1999, working as one of Washington's most prominent anti-Clinton opposition researchers.

Comstock worked on behalf of the 2000 presidential campaign of George W. Bush. Her research team built massive stores of paper and electronic data, known as "The Gore File," that were a key source of information on the former vice president for GOP publicists and ad-makers. Comstock is credited with writing the Republican "playbook" defending Bush nominees such as John Ashcroft for U.S. Attorney General. Comstock later served as director of public affairs for the Justice Department from 2002 to 2003. She has been praised for her work in opposition research for the Republican National Committee.

Comstock joined lobbyist firm Blank Rome LLP in 2004.

Comstock assisted the defense teams of both I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby and former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay. In 2005, Comstock was hired by Dan Glickman to lobby on behalf of the Motion Picture Association of America.

Comstock was a consultant on the presidential campaign of Mitt Romney and is also a consultant to the Workforce Fairness Institute, which opposes the Employee Free Choice Act. Comstock was paid from 2008 through 2012 by WFI, according to her campaign, but she made at least two more media appearances on behalf of the group in 2013 While serving as Delegate. She initially failed to list WFI as a client when she filed papers to run for the seat. Her campaign later disclosed the relationship to The Washington Post, calling the omission unintentional. Congressional candidates with an ownership interest in companies are required to report clients who paid $5,000 or more in fees. While receiving payments, Comstock sponsored legislation that benefited the WFI and their primary objectives. She also serves as Co-Chair of the Executive Committee of the Susan B. Anthony List.

In 2011, Comstock voted in favor of HB 462, which required women to have ultrasounds before receiving an abortion. When opponents pointed out that this would necessitate an internal ultrasound for early-term pregnancies, an amendment was passed to limit the requirement to external ultrasounds only. She also voted in favor of the amendment. Comstock supports exceptions to bans on abortions in cases of rape, incest, or when the mother's life is in danger. She also supports making birth control available to women over the counter.

U.S. House of Representatives

2014 election

On January 7, 2014 she announced her candidacy for the U.S. House of Representatives from Virginia's 10th District, following the announcement that Rep. Frank Wolf will retire at the end of the 113th Congress rather than run for reelection.

The Daily Caller reported that an opposition research packet on Comstock suggests she "will likely come under fire in Virginia’s 10th congressional district race over the question of whether she is conservative enough."

On April 26, 2014, Barbara Comstock won the Republican nomination for the U.S. House of Representatives in the 10th District firehouse primary, defeating five other candidates and winning approximately 54% of the total vote.

While debating John Foust at Virginia's 10th Congressional District Debate, Comstock answered a question about how congress should handle comprehensive immigration reform. She said, “Fed-Ex can track packages coming in here all of the time, we can track people who are coming into the country and we can do that right.” She then went on to oppose passing comprehensive immigration reform preferring a piecemeal approach instead.

Comstock in tandem with Republican Senate candidate Ed Gillespie planned on attending a public meeting Northern Shenandoah Valley Tea Party in early August. After rumors arose that questions would be taken from the crowd at this public event, both candidates moved the meeting to a private location. After criticism from Democratic candidates about why they needed to hide behind closed doors to meet with their base of voters, Comstock and Gillespie opted to chat with the group by phone instead. This decision prompted a statement from David Sparkman, chairman of the Tea Party group, to say, "I'm disappointed, I wanted to look these politicians in the eye and take their measure."

Comstock has received the endorsements of the United States Chamber of Commerce, the National Federation of Independent Business, and both the Virginia Association of Realtors and the National Association of Realtors. On August 28, 2014, Comstock received the endorsement of the Virginia Police Benevolent Association (VAPBA). In 2012 the VAPBA had endorsed the Democratic challenger to Rep. Frank Wolf in the same district.

Comstock won the election on November 4, 2014, defeating Democrat John Foust with 56 percent of the vote.

Committee assignments

• Committee on House Administration
• Committee on Science, Space and Technology
  • Subcommittee on Energy
  • Subcommittee on Research and Technology (Chair)
• Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure
  • Subcommittee on Aviation
  • Subcommittee on Economic Development, Public Buildings and Emergency Management
  • Subcommittee on Highways and Transit

Electoral history

Virginia House of Delegates General Election, 2009
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Barbara Comstock	12,636	51
	Democratic	Margaret Vanderhye	12,214	49
	Independent	Write-in candidates	26	<1
Total votes			24,850	100

Virginia House of Delegates General Election, 2011
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Barbara Comstock	11,628	55
	Democratic	Pamela Danner	9,573	45
	Independent	Write-in candidates	16	<1
Total votes			21,217	100

Virginia House of Delegates General Election, 2013
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Barbara Comstock	14,962	51
	Democratic	Kathleen Murphy	14,540	49
	Independent	Write-in candidates	42	<1
Total votes			29,544	100

U.S. House of Representatives General Election, 2014
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Barbara Comstock	125,867	56
	Democratic	John Foust	89,895	40
	Libertarian	William B. Redpath	3,393	2
	Independent	Brad A. Eickholt	2,441	1
	Independent Green	Dianne L. Blais	944	<1
	Independent	Write-in candidates	261	<1
Total votes			222,801	100

External links

• Congresswoman Barbara Comstock official U.S. House site
• Comstock for Congress official campaign website
• Appearances on C-SPAN
• Biography at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• Profile at Project Vote Smart
• Financial information (federal office) at the Federal Election Commission
• Legislation sponsored at The Library of Congress

United States House of Representatives
Preceded by Frank Wolf	Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Virginia's 10th congressional district January 3, 2015 – present	Incumbent
United States order of precedence (ceremonial)
Preceded by Buddy Carter R-Georgia	United States Representatives by seniority 389th	Succeeded by Ryan Costello R-Pennsylvania