American politician
Michael J. Webert (born September 24, 1979) is an American politician. A Republican, he was elected to the Virginia House of Delegates in 2011. He currently represents[update] the 61st district, made up of Rappahannock County and parts of Culpeper, Fauquier and Warren counties, in the north central part of the state.[1][2]
Early life, education, and business career
A native of Denver, Colorado, Webert graduated from the Kent School in Kent, Connecticut in 1998. After moving to Virginia, he received a B.A. in Communications from George Mason University in 2010.[1][2]
He is the general manager of Locust Hill Farm, LLC, a cattle farm near Middleburg, Virginia. He also owns a cattle marketing business.[update][1][2]
Webert married Rebecca Funkhouser. They have two sons and live outside of Warrenton.[1][2]
Political career
The 18th House district incumbent, Republican Clay Athey of Front Royal, did not run for re-election in 2011 following redistricting that radically altered the map of the district. The following year, the General Assembly appointed Athey a circuit court judge.[3]
In 2011, Webert won the Republican primary with 56.4% of the vote, defeating Kevin P. Kelley of Warrenton with 2,016 votes to Kelley's 1,556.[4] He then won the general election with 69.6% of the vote, defeating Democratic candidate Bob L. Zwick of The Plains. He received 9,749 votes while Zwick received 4,264.[5]
In 2013, Webert won reelection with 63.3% of the vote, defeating Democratic nominee Colin S. Harris, a 22-year-old aerospace executive from Orlean, in the general election. He received 15,549 votes while Harris received 8,979 votes, or 36.5% of the vote.[6] This was (and remains, as of 2019) the strongest Democratic performance in the strongly Republican 18th district since 2001, when Peter B. Schwartz of Marshall won 37.3% of the vote in a three-way race against Athey and independent candidate Jerry M. Wood of Warrenton (who had previously served one term in the House of Delegates as a Democrat from 1992 to 1994).[7]
Webert ran unopposed in the 2015 election, winning 96.9% of the vote.[8]
In the 2017 election, Webert won his fourth term in the House of Delegates, defeating Democratic candidate Tristan D. Shields, a musician from Rixeyville, and Green Party candidate Wilton King, a retired Marine and federal air marshal from Bealeton. He received 16,686 votes while Shields received 9,486 and King received 1,433.[9]
