At least 7 GOP candidates eager to take on Perriello

The contest in Virginia’s 5th Congressional District is drawing increased national attention, and a growing slate of candidates are jostling for the chance to take on Rep. Tom Perriello.

The freshman Democrat knew last fall, when he upset Republican Virgil H. Goode Jr. by just 727 votes, that he had a bull’s-eye on his back.

Now he’s a target for the national GOP, and at least seven Republicans are seeking their party’s nomination to take him on.

But first, Republicans have to select their nominee. The 5th District’s Republican Committee voted last weekend to pick its candidate in an open primary in June.

Pundits say that is likely to favor state Sen. Robert Hurt, R-Pittsylvania—who has the best name recognition. The National Republican Congressional Committee encouraged Hurt to run before he announced his candidacy. It now says Hurt is one of several prospective candidates who could defeat Perriello.

Six of the seven Republican candidates preferred a district convention in May to an open primary in June, citing costs associated with a primary and the potential for Democrats and other non-Republicans to vote on the nomination.

Some conservatives object to Hurt’s voting record—principally his support of a $1.4 billion tax increase pushed by former Gov. Mark R. Warner in 2004.

After he cast that vote, Hurt was among 19 Republican delegates and 15 Republican state senators featured in a “Virginia’s Least Wanted” poster issued by the Washington-based Americans for Tax Reform.

This month, Hurt went to Washington and attended a meeting of the anti-tax group.

“He basically made the case that this was not a vote he was comfortable with and that it wouldn’t happen again,“ Grover Norquist, head of the group, told CQ Politics.

“Some seem unwilling to accept his nomination if that comes to be,“ said Larry Sabato, a political-science professor at the University of Virginia. “That would suggest, to me at least, a possibility of an independent or Tea Party candidate.“

The notion of an intra-party split excites Democrats because it would theoretically help Perriello, but only if that third-party candidate garnered enough support—and cash.

Last month, a Democrat captured a special election in New York’s 23rd Congressional District after some conservative leaders backed a third-party candidate rather than the Republican nominee, whom they deemed too moderate.

“Perriello is obviously hoping for a GOP split,“ Sabato said. “It may be his best ticket to a second term.“

Tucker Watkins, 5th District Republican chairman, disagreed with the potential of such a party fight.

“We clearly have disagreements on a regular basis on the best way to approach, but we clearly came to a decision by a fairly significant margin last Saturday,“ he said. “After June the 8th, I believe everyone will get together and go get rid of Tom Perriello.“

Party fissure or not, Perriello will likely have a tough race on his hands.

Perriello won his district, which stretches from Charlottesville south to the North Carolina line, by a slim margin in a year in which Barack Obama drove a surge of Democratic voters to the polls. The turnout in a midyear election likely will be much smaller.

The district is politically “bipolar,“ with heavily liberal northern areas and southern portions “like Alabama,“ Sabato said.

But Perriello has worked his district. In August, he held 21 town-hall meetings on health care—more than any other member of Congress—and he has made a point of being visible in the district.

Perriello supported Obama on “cap-and-trade” legislation meant to limit greenhouse gases; and on the House health-care legislation. The cap-and-trade vote was particularly unpopular with his rural constituency. But he has also bucked his party, including voting against releasing the second $350 billion of TARP funds.

On Wednesday, Perriello’s campaign sent an e-mail to supporters asking for contributions, acknowledging that pundits call him one of the most vulnerable Democrats in 2010. He says attacks over the past year haven’t stopped him from “putting what’s right ahead of what’s easy.“

“But there’s a difference between being targeted and being vulnerable,“ he writes.

“I have not backed down from my convictions; I have not run scared from those who oppose me; and I have not put my political security ahead of our national security.“
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Contact Olympia Meola at (804) 649-6812 or .