Republicans are intent on taking back the 5th Congressional District from freshman Democrat Tom Perriello, but first they have to find a candidate who has a shot at beating him.
Despite losing by less than 1 percent of the vote in 2008, Republican Virgil Goode decided last month that he would not try to regain his old seat, opening up the GOP spot on the 2010 ballot to more than a dozen interested people, according to party officials.
Some fear Goode’s decision not to run has hurt the odds that Republicans can regain the seat.
“This is a game-changer,” said Hampden-Sydney College political science professor David Marion. “I think the Democrats now have a real chance of holding on to this seat in 2010, even without a Mark Warner or Barack Obama on the ticket. Republicans are going to be fielding somebody that doesn’t have the name recognition that Virgil has and that may not have the war chest that he could have put together.”
But others say Goode’s decision to forgo a rematch with Perriello actually improves the GOP’s chances of taking back the 5th.
“Goode would have been far from the National Republican Congressional Committee’s first choice to run,” said Dave Wasserman, the Cook Political Report’s House race editor. “He ran a stone-aged campaign in 2008, which cost him his seat. He was not prepared to run against someone who had a modern campaign with lots of money, because he never had to do it before.”
There are at least 14 people who want to run for the nomination, according to Albemarle County Republican Committee Chairman Chris Schoenewald. “At this point, it’s too early for me to tell who would be the best candidate. We really need to see how the field is going to shape up over the next few months.”
The 5th District Republicans will decide early next year whether to pick a candidate by committee ballot or hold a primary in June that will allow voters to choose the GOP nominee.
Potential candidates include Albemarle County Supervisor Ken Boyd, Del. Rob Bell and state Sen. Robert Hurt.
Hurt, who is from Franklin County in the southern part of the District, and Bell, who is from the Charlottesville area, are considered the top contenders by many political experts.
Hurt told The Examiner he has not made up his mind, while Bell did not respond to a request for an interview and told other media outlets he has no plans to run, though some analysts believe he may change his mind. – Susan Ferrechio
