State Sen. Robert Hurt easily won the Republican nomination today in Virginia’s fifth Congressional district, pitting him against freshman Rep. Tom Perriello (D-VA) in what will be one of the most competitive races this fall.
Hurt, once targeted from the right as a tax-raiser favored by the Washington establishment, cleared the field of contenders by earning 46 percent when the Associated Press called the race. The next-closest vote-getter, Jim McKelvey, had 28 percent. The other candidates held either in single digits or just at 10 percent, a result that was expected despite an intense primary battle that once had Hurt on the ropes.
McKelvey, who has been hammering Hurt in recent days with an ad feature a mock endorsement from former President Bill Clinton, is the only candidate who has not promised to endorse Hurt should he win.
It’s unclear if Jeffrey Clark, running as an independent, will be any real threat to the two major party candidates. Clark is to the right of Hurt and told the Lynchburg News and Advance that he views Hurt as a “situational conservative.”
Republicans see this as a bellwether race since it’s one of those traditionally conservative districts that could easily flip back into their column. If they capture enough similar districts, they could win control of the House this fall. But Democrats think Hurt is the vulnerable one since he hasn’t been able to unite the Republican party around his candidacy. They also will try to make it a raise of which candidate holds more credibility. They say that Perriello has stood by his votes for health care reform, the stimulus bill and cap and trade, explaining to constituents why he thinks it was the right call even if they disagree. Democrats say that by contrast, Hurt has said he regrets his vote for a $1.4 billion tax increase in 2004 to balance the state budget. At the time, then Gov. Mark Warner (D) hailed the Republicans like Hurt who helped his administration raise taxes as brave and having conviction to challenge the anti-tax crowd.
Perriello won in the high turnout 2008 election by less than 800 votes, unseating Rep. Virgil Goode (R-VA). The district narrowly backed Sen. John McCain over Barack Obama, 51%-48%. Perriello told me in an interview this week the GOP won’t catch him unprepared.
Follow results tonight here.
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