While former Virginia Gov. George Allen and Tea Party activist Jamie Radtke have soaked up most of the attention so far in the 2012 Republican primary race for the U.S. Senate, three other GOP contenders say they have no intention of becoming also-rans. Hampton Roads lawyer David McCormick, Chesapeake’s Bishop E.W. Jackson and Northern Virginia television mogul Timothy Donner have all joined what will undoubtedly be a drawn-out primary battle.
McCormick bills himself as a business candidate who, because of his jobs with United Parcel Service and as an attorney, understands both the working and middle classes.
“I’ve been white collar, blue collar and brown collar — I started out as a truck driver and truck loader,” he said.
Donner started his career as a sports broadcaster in Boston and central Massachusetts, and is founder of Horizons Television Inc. in Great Falls. He, too, said he is running as a businessman as opposed to someone like Allen, who has spent much of his career in state and national politics.
“I’m not going to Washington to work around the edges,” Donner said. “I’m not interested in power. I’m not interested in money. I’m interested [in] serving the people of Virginia.”
Meanwhile, Jackson, a Marine Corps veteran and lawyer, said he already has a statewide following; he won the Republican Party of Virginia’s 2010 Outstanding Outreach Effort of the Year award for his travels preaching the GOP message.
“I can reach out to Tea Party people, to traditional Republicans, to evangelicals, to minorities, and bring these folks together in a way that no other candidate in this race can do,” Jackson said.
Conventional wisdom is that the more candidates who enter the primary, the easier it will be for Allen — who has advantages in statewide name recognition and national political and financial connections — to win a shot at regaining what was once his Senate seat.
“The larger the field in the Republican primary, the more divided the anti-Allen vote will be,” said Stephen Farnsworth, a professor of communication at George Mason University.
But Donner, McCormick and Jackson are working to turn that thinking on its head.
“No matter what the newspapers say, no matter what anybody else says, there is a large constituency of disenchanted people out there who want a new voice,” said Jackson.
“I think there is a tremendous amount of disenchantment,” he added, “and I think people are going to be surprised on primary day.”
The winner of next year’s primary would likely face former Gov. Tim Kaine, a Democrat, in the fall.
