Hurt will seek GOP nomination to challenge Perriello

State Sen. Robert Hurt, R-Pittsylvania, said yesterday that he will seek the Republican nomination to run for the 5th District congressional seat.

Hurt has been urged to run by the National Republican Congressional Committee, which views freshman incumbent Rep. Tom Perriello as one of the most vulnerable Democrats in the House of Representatives.

Hurt, 40, served six years in the House of Delegates before being elected to the state Senate in 2007. The 19th Senatorial District consists of Danville, Pittsylvania and Franklin counties and part of Campbell County, a big chunk of the southern part of the 5th Congressional District.

Hurt said there is "an urgent sense among our people that if the current course of this great country is not quickly changed, we will soon be left with a nation of more government, more taxes, fewer jobs and even fewer liberties."

He said he will run as a conservative and fight against taxing and spending in Washington. Hurt was among the 19 Republican delegates who voted for then-Gov. Mark R. Warner's $1.4 billion tax increase in 2004.

Andy Sere, a spokesman for the National Republican Congressional Committee, welcomed Hurt's candidacy with an attack on Perriello and "his brand of Ivy-bred liberal elitism."

Hurt said he has filed election papers with the Federal Election Commission but will not formally announce until after the Nov. 3 statewide elections.

Contact Tyler Whitley at (804) 649-6780 or .