Goode will not seek to reclaim Fifth District seat in 2010

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Virgil Goode raised $154 for likely 2010 bid - July 15, 2009

Political speculation in the 5th District leaped ahead to 2010 Monday after former Rep. Virgil Goode announced he wouldn’t be a candidate for the Republican nomination.

“Everybody has been waiting for Virgil to decide what he wanted to do,” said Rep. Bob Goodlatte, R-6th District, who was holding his annual energy conference in Lynchburg.

“I think now that that decision has been made, there will be a lot of discussions among a lot of folks in the Fifth District about finding the best candidate who can win that seat,” Goodlatte said.

Freshman Rep. Tom Perriello, D-5th, holds the seat after upsetting Goode by 722 votes last fall in the closest congressional race in the nation.

The National Republican Congressional Committee has singled out Perriello in TV attack ads after he voted for the cap-and-trade energy bill that passed the House in late May.

“Let the maneuvering begin,” said political analyst Robert Holsworth of Richmond on his Virginia Tomorrow Web site.

Goode had filed a statement of candidacy form with the Federal Election Commission in March, although he said at the time he hadn’t made a decision about running.

His indecision kept many other potential candidates from stepping forward, although one did. Bradley Rees, of Bedford County, announced a month ago that he would seek the Republican nomination to oppose Perriello.

Rees, 31, is a Lynchburg factory worker and an advocate of the Fair Tax, which would establish a national sales tax to replace the income tax.

State Sen. Robert Hurt, R-Chatham, one of several prospects whose names have been mentioned in early speculation, said he was concentrating on this fall’s elections.

“My main focus now is to get Bob McDonnell elected governor” over Democrat Creigh Deeds, Hurt said. Hurt also is helping local House of Delegates candidates, including Del. Danny Marshall, R-Danville, in a race against Democrat Seward Anderson.

Other potential candidates discussed in political circles included Cordel Faulk of the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia, along with Kenneth Boyd, an Albemarle County supervisor. Both had said they might be interested in running.

Faulk specializes in communication and media research at the center run by Larry Sabato, a nationally recognized analyst.

Del. Rob Bell, R-Albemarle, had been on the speculation list, but he said Monday he wouldn’t seek the 5th District nomination.

Rees’ campaign manager, Michael Ernette, said, “We welcome all comers.”

“As long as we wind up in June with a conservative candidate, this campaign will be happy. Of course we hope Brad is that conservative candidate,” Ernette said.

Perriello, through a spokeswoman, said, “I respect Mr. Goode’s years of service and wish him well in whatever he chooses to pursue next.”

Anyone who runs on the Republican side will go up against the sort of war chest an incumbent typically owns.

Perriello had $381,000 in his campaign account at the end of June, according to the Federal Election Commission. He spent about $2 million in his race against Goode last fall and benefited from another $1.1 million in support from political action groups outside the Perriello campaign.

The funds helped Perriello prevail even though voters gave Republican presidential candidate John McCain a majority of their votes in the 5th District. Statewide, Democrats carried the state in the presidential contest and two other congressional races.

The 2010 race will be different in two respects: It will have a smaller turnout than the presidential election, and House of Representative candidates will be at the top of the ballot as the premier contestants that year, instead of the down-ticket slots they held last November.