Former Virginia governor and senator George Allen ended months of speculation Monday by jumping into the state’s 2012 U.S. Senate race — though a rematch with Sen. Jim Webb, the Democrat who beat Allen in 2006, remains an open question. Allen has been assembling staff for a potential run for some time and plans an official kick-off tour later this year.
“I’m going to be focused on ideas,” he told The Washington Examiner. “Families care about what matters at the kitchen table.”
Allen pledged in a video announcing his candidacy to rein in spending, push for a balanced-budget amendment and find a replacement for “this government-mandated health care experiment.”
Allen’s long-awaited declaration sets up a possible showdown with Webb, who bested Allen by less than 1 percentage point in 2006 after Allen was videotaped calling a Webb volunteer of Indian descent “macaca,” which many interpreted as a racial slur.
“I needlessly threw a college student into the race, and I should not have,” Allen said. “Had I known the word was offensive, I certainly would not have said it.”
The state Democratic Party and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee issued statements Monday critical of Allen’s Senate record, but Webb remained mum.
Spokesman Will Jenkins said Webb will announce his intentions “in the first quarter of this year” after discussing it with his family. Webb has given no indication of whether he wants to remain in the job, nor has he been raising money for a re-election campaign.
Though heavily favored, Allen may have to navigate a potentially crowded primary field, which will include Jamie Radtke, former head of the Virginia Tea Party Patriots Federation.
Other potential Republican candidates include Del. Bob Marshall of Prince William County and Corey Stewart, chairman of the Prince William County Board of Supervisors.
“As far as this campaign’s concerned, I’m taking nothing for granted,” Allen said.
Tom Jensen, director of Public Policy Polling, said a Tea Party-style challenger may try to portray Allen as insufficiently conservative, but Allen’s statewide popularity makes him a front-runner in the primary.
“If Webb runs,” Jensen said, “it has the strong potential to be the most exciting Senate race in the country next year, as it was in 2006.”
