Boyd announces challenge to Perriello

Albemarle County Supervisor Kenneth C. Boyd on Friday formally launched his campaign to seek the GOP nomination to challenge U.S. Rep. Tom Perriello, D-Ivy, in next year’s midterm congressional election.

“We’re set up to win this election and to take back this district from the Democrats and Mr. Perriello,” Boyd said.

Boyd spoke to supporters Friday afternoon in front of the Albemarle County Office Building as part of his multi-stop tour of the 5th District, which stretches from the Charlottesville region to the North Carolina border.

Boyd said he believes a “revolution is coming next year,” much like the Republican wave in 1994 that handed control of the House back to the GOP.

“What we’re hearing are a lot of people who are concerned with what’s going on in this district and what’s going on in this country,” he said.

Boyd joins a crowded field of Republicans seeking the party’s nomination against Perriello.

Also in the running are state Sen. Robert Hurt, R-Chatham; Ivy resident and real estate investor Laurence Verga; Fluvanna County biology teacher and GOP activist Feda Kidd Morton; Campbell County resident Ron Ferrin; and North Garden resident and pilot Michael McPadden.

A seventh candidate, Bradley Rees, recently dropped out of the GOP primary race to run on the Virginia Conservative Party platform.

The 5th District Republican Committee is expected to hold a convention in May to choose the nominee.

Boyd said he has the best shot of beating Perriello because he is one of only two elected officials in the race and the only one from the district’s northern part.