Delegate Tony Wilt of Rockingham and his campaign responded to a recent advertisement released by the Andrew Payton campaign, calling it “false and misleading.” The ad accused Wilt of corruption and using his office for personal gain.
In a statement, Wilt addressed specific claims from the ad. “My opponent released a new ad today that is full of lies and personal attacks—accusing me of corruption and using my office for personal gain. Nothing could be further from the truth,” he said.
Wilt clarified allegations regarding a government loan. “The ad claims I pocketed $700,000 in government loans and ‘kept them’—FALSE. Like many businesses, we took a Paycheck Protection Program loan during the pandemic to ensure employees could keep working. We ultimately paid the loan back in full, with interest—not because we had to, but because we felt it was the right thing to do. And we have the paperwork to prove it.”
Addressing another point in the advertisement about his support for HB 2718 (2019), also known as the I-81 Improvement Plan, Wilt stated: “The ad also cites my vote for HB 2718 (2019), the I-81 Improvement Plan, and claims I ‘voted on projects to benefit my company.’ That bill is why we’re finally seeing long-overdue construction on I-81, including the Harrisonburg widening project that will break ground at the beginning of next year. I voted for it proudly because I was tired of seeing lives lost and families delayed on our interstate. Importantly, the funding for those improvements comes largely from additional assessments on the trucking industry—the very industry I once worked in. Despite that, I supported the bill because it was the right thing to do. And let’s be clear: our family sold Superior Concrete Inc. four years ago, well before a single dollar was spent in our area on I-81 Improvement Plan construction projects.”
Wilt concluded his statement by saying: “I’ll always stand on my record of working for safer roads, strong schools, and responsible leadership. Personal attacks and lies may be ‘politics as usual’ in Maryland, where my opponent comes from, but that’s not how we do things in the Shenandoah Valley.”
