Are Republicans a lost cause in city politics?

The clock is nearly done ticking on those interested in running in this year’s elections, and there are no signs that Charlottesville Republi-cans will make it in time to get on the 2009 local ballot.

Charles Weber, chairman of the city’s Republican committee, said last month that he would know shortly if the party would field a candidate for this year’s elections, after talking with some interested residents at the time. But the Republicans’ status has not changed since then, and with less than one week to go until the candidacy filing deadline, it becomes increasingly improbable that any candidate will have the letter “R” noted next to their name on the Nov. 3 ballot.
Weber did not return multiple calls for comment on Monday.

Candidates for local office must file the necessary paperwork to run by June 9.
If no Republican candidate takes the plunge, which officials acknowledge is a daunting task in a city where Democrats have a monopoly on the local government, it will be the second consecutive year with city elections that the party did not have a nominee on the ballot. (There was no local race in 2008.) Before 2007, the last time the party failed to produce a candidate for local office was in 1972.
“I hope there aren’t any,” said Rob Schilling, a former Republican city councilor who now hosts a radio show, of Republicans running this year. “Having a façade of competitive elections … is just not productive.”

Schilling won a City Council seat in 2002, the first time in 16 years that a member of his party was voted onto the five-member body. He said it seems unlikely that the party would front a candidate at this stage in the game, “and I hope that stays the case,” Schil-ling said.
The city’s Office of Voter Registration confirmed that as of Monday, no Republicans have filed to get on the ballot this fall. Only three candidates have completed the required procedure — Democratic nominees Mayor Dave Norris and Kristin Szakos, and independent candidate Andrew Williams. Independent Bob Fenwick has also announced that he would seek one of the council’s two open seats, but has not yet given the city’s voting office his declaration.
In an interview, Fenwick, a registered Republican in Virginia, said he chose to run as an independent because he believes that gives him more flexibility in his campaign.

The downsides of running as a Republican, he said, were not factored into his decision because he knew he would be the underdog in this year’s race, regardless of party affiliation.
“It wasn’t about a risk of party label,” said Fenwick, who is still collecting the 125 signatures of registered city voters for his candidacy petition. “It was more that I would run my own campaign, I could be my own person.”
But the fact that Republicans and even independents have to struggle election after election, Schilling said, proves that the Democrats have too strong a hold on the city.

The solution, he said, is to have nonpartisan City Council elections similar to those for the Charlottesville School Board, so that candidates get elected based on ideas instead of their parties.
“I’d like to see a dozen independents on the ballot. I think that’d be a healthy and competitive election,” he said.
The Democrats say they welcome competition in this year’s elections, but party officials say they do not think the presence, or lack thereof, of Republicans would change their candidates’ campaigns.
“We want to serve the city and have good government,” said Jennifer McKeever, co-chairman of the Charlottesville Democrats. “We are going to run our race, our campaign.”