Former Virginia Gov. and Sen. George Allen is expected to tell supporters within a week that he’s seeking to recapture the U.S. Senate seat in 2012 that he lost in 2006 to Democrat Jim Webb. It’s been widely anticipated that Allen would try to recapture the seat he lost to Webb in 2006, with potential opponents among Democrats and the GOP waiting on Allen’s decision before committing to the race.
Allen had been considered a potential front-runner for the 2008 presidential nomination until his 2006 campaign was derailed, in part, because of a racial slur he used to refer to a Webb campaign staffer. But Allen, who has been reportedly assembling a staff for another bid, still has significant name recognition throughout the state. Politico first reported the news Monday. Allen’s camp could not be reached for comment.
“The first issue is that he’s the most well-known person who’s going to run for the Republican nomination,” said longtime Virginia political analyst Bob Holsworth.
The field could be crowded.
Jamie Radtke, former head of the Virginia Tea Party Patriots Federation, resigned that post so she could run. Other potential rivals Del. Bob Marshall, R-Prince William, Prince William County Board of Supervisors Chairman Corey Stewart, and attorney Bert Mizusawa.
Stewart and Marshall both said Monday that they would defer any official announcement for the time being.
Meanwhile, Webb has yet to formally announce his intentions for 2012 — likely giving some national Democrats heartburn as they attempt to rebound from what President Obama dubbed a “shellacking” in the 2010 midterms.
“He’s driving his own party crazy,” said Holsworth. “I would presume he’ll run, but there are no odds in trying to predict what Jim Webb’s going to do on that front.”
Webb will make a decision regarding 2012 in the first quarter of this year after consulting with his family, spokesman Will Jenkins wrote in an e-mail.
Virginia Democrats, though, are apparently itching for a fight with Allen, regardless of who their nominee is.
“I can’t think of another Republican who will do as much to galvanize and energize grass-roots Virginia Democrats than George Allen,” said David Mills, executive director of the Democratic Party of Virginia. “He represents a harsh, mean-spirited brand of politics that Virginians roundly rejected in 2006 and which I am certain they will reject again next year.”
Allen lost to Webb by less than 1 percent of the vote, an upset fueled in part by the Republican’s use of the term “macaca” to refer to a Webb campaign volunteer who was tracking and filming him. Allen said the word had no derogatory meaning, but others interpreted it as a racial slur directed at an Indian-American.
A crowded primary could hamper Virginia Republicans the way a similar field hurt Democrats in the 2009 gubernatorial race. “More than anything else, I think the Democrats would like to see a very feisty, protracted race for the Republican nomination,” said Holsworth.
