GOP interest runs high in 5th District

Being a district chairman for a political party usually is a low-profile task, but Tucker Watkins has had a busy summer talking to the dozen or more Republicans who want to run in 2010 against Rep. Tom Perriello, D-5th District.

“We have met with a number of people already,” Watkins said last week, and he planned more talks this week with potential candidates eager to catch the wave of political heat generated by the current health care debate and U.S. House approval of an energy bill.

If Watkins had his preference, he’d be talking to the three Republican state senators who represent the 5th District’s southern territory.

None of the three senators has said he would run against Perriello.

Sen. Robert Hurt, R-Chatham, said, “I am considering it seriously and have not come up with any decision yet.”

Sen. Frank Ruff, R-Clarksville, said that before he’d run, “I would have to have a conversation with my family, and I have not had that conversation.”

Sen. Steve Newman, R-Lynchburg, has refused to discuss the 5th District seat with reporters.

“All three are still in the mix,” Watkins said. “They have not said they will not run.

“All three have a higher name identification (with voters) than someone who would necessarily be known in one county,” the party chairman added.

“My guess is, you won’t see two senators running, you will see one running,” Watkins said.

“I don’t think there is a pecking order” among Hurt, Ruff and Newman, Watkins said.

“They’re all friends, they are all solid conservatives,” he said. “The number one goal of all of them is to have the 5th District back in conservative hands.”

Perriello has been anything but conservative in his first eight months in office, and Democratic congressional leaders are watching him, Watkins contends.

“Whenever they needed a vote, Perriello has been there to provide it,” Watkins said.

Perhaps the key vote so far was the House of Representatives’ 219-212 approval of an energy bill that Perriello and many other supporters conceded would result in higher electricity bills for consumers.

Watkins said the bill was especially hurtful to areas such as Martinsville and Danville where unemployment is high.

Perriello spokeswoman Jessica Barba replied, “Congressman Perriello supported the American Clean Energy and Security Act because he knows Virginians are sick and tired of sending energy dollars overseas to petro-dictators when we could be producing our own clean energy right here at home with new American jobs.”

Watkins, who lives in Charlotte County near the center of the 5th District’s conservative, rural Southside region, managed former Rep. Virgil Goode’s campaign against Perriello last year.

Perriello won by 727 votes in the closest race in the nation.

Hurt, Ruff and Newman are supporting Republican Bob McDonnell in this November’s gubernatorial election against Democrat Creigh Deeds, and to some extent are biding their time before the 2010 election.

In the meantime, three newcomers to politics at the congressional level already are active in Republican circles.

The first to announce his candidacy was Bradley Rees, a Fair Tax advocate who lives in Bedford County.

Also in the ring is Feda Kidd Morton, a schoolteacher in Fluvanna County who once represented the 5th District on the Republican Party’s State Central Committee. Morton, who has served two terms on the county school board, met with potential supporters in Lynchburg last week.

The third candidate already in the mix is Laurence Verga, who, like Perriello, lists Ivy in Albemarle County as his home. Verga is a real estate investor.

Two other prospects have let their names be circulated in the news media.

They are Ken Boyd, an Albemarle County supervisor, and Cordel Faulk, director of communications for the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia.

“We were in the double digits of people looking at it, and that surprised some people around Virginia,” Watkins said.

“But just talking about the enormity of the task, and the size of the district, some of them have decided there are people out there who are just as well-qualified as they are,” Watkins said.

“My guess is that within 30 days this thing will be a whole lot clearer than it is today.”

Fifth District leaders will decide in January how to choose the party’s candidate, Watkins said.

Possible methods include a primary election and a district nominating convention, as well as a party canvass.

A canvass has been used in elections at lower levels, Watkins said, but never for a congressional race.

“A canvass allows you to ask the party affiliation of people who vote,” and ask them to sign a pledge to support the party’s candidates in November, Watkins said.

A canvass is run by the party and not by the State Board of Elections, Watkins said. In a canvass, there would be at least one polling place in each county, and it probably would be held on a Saturday, he said.

“That’s still in the exploratory steps,” Watkins said.