State senator wants GOP nod for 5th District

A state senator from the Danville area will announce today that he is joining the crowded field of candidates vying for the GOP nomination to challenge U.S. Rep. Tom Perriello, D-Ivy.

Sen. Robert Hurt, a Republican from Chatham, is expected to file papers this morning with the Federal Elections Commission to launch his candidacy for the 5th Congressional District, which runs from the Charlottesville region down to the North Carolina border.

“Over the last few months, I have met with many residents and Republican leaders across the 5th District,” Hurt said in a statement. “I have come away from these meetings struck by the 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.”

Hurt is the sixth Republican to jump into the race to win the GOP nomination to challenge Perriello, a freshman Democrat who will be among the Republican Party’s top targets in 2010.

Also running for the GOP nomination are: Kenneth C. Boyd, a member of the Albemarle County Board of Supervisors; Feda Kidd-Morton, a Fluvanna County biology teacher and Republican activist; Michael McPadden, a North Garden resident and Northwest Airlines captain; Bradley Rees, an assembly line worker from Bedford County and FairTax advocate; and Laurence Verga, a real estate investor and Ivy resident.

Hurt, who is the only lawmaker to enter the race so far, said he is a proven election winner in the southern part of the district. As a member of the House of Delegates from 2002 to 2008 and as a current member of the Virginia Senate, Hurt has represented some 170,000 residents of the 5th District.

“I’ve represented more than a quarter of the 5th District,” he said in an interview. “That puts me in a strong position.”

One possible problem for Hurt’s candidacy is that he voted in favor of a $1.4 billion tax increase in 2004 that closed a gap in Virginia’s budget that threatened the state’s AAA bond rating and increased spending on education, public safety and mental health services.

The tax increase has been a sore spot for the Republican rank-and-file ever since. The issue has come up, for example, in this year’s gubernatorial race between Republican Bob McDonnell and Democrat R. Creigh Deeds. McDonnell has criticized Deeds for backing the 2004 vote, saying it was the largest tax increase in Virginia’s history — and unnecessary.

“People have long memories, especially of such a difficult time politically,” said Keith Drake, a former Albemarle County GOP chairman and leader of the Albemarle Truth in Taxation Alliance. “[Hurt] was on the wrong side of that vote.”

Hurt’s support of the 2004 tax increase, Drake said, could be a factor when the district’s Republican voters choose their nominee in a convention. Conventions, he pointed out, tend to draw a small number of hardcore party members who have strong feelings about the issue.

Hurt acknowledged that the 2004 tax vote still irritates many Republicans, but he said it was necessary, based on the information lawmakers had at the time, to avoid a government shutdown over budget gridlock.

“I was convinced at the time, based on what I knew, that it was something that had to be done,” he said. “I hated the vote, but I felt it was necessary at the time.”

Hurt added that he has long supported fiscally conservative, pro-business legislation. “I have a strong record of voting against tax increases and a record of voting for pro-business and conservative policies,” he said.

Hurt is running for Congress, he said, because he is concerned about the rising national debt, government spending and some of the policies of President Barack Obama and the Democratic-led legislature.

Hurt specifically mentioned his opposition to the American Clean Energy and Security Act, also known as “cap and trade,” that aims to reduce environmentally damaging emissions but that opponents point out will increase electricity bills. Perriello, who unseated longtime incumbent Virgil H. Goode Jr. by a slim margin in last year’s election, voted in favor of the cap-and-trade bill.

Larry J. Sabato, director of the University of Virginia’s Center for Politics, said that Hurt is the No. 1 choice of the national Republicans.

“There’s no question that the national GOP leadership hoped that Robert Hurt would run,” he said. “Privately, he’s their preferred nominee, whether they say that publicly or not. Of course, the national leadership doesn’t vote in the 5th District GOP nominating contests, so we’ll see if the local people agree.”

The impact of Hurt’s vote on the 2004 tax increase, Sabato said, remains to be seen.

“Hurt’s support of the Warner [tax] package will make it difficult for Democrats to portray him as a right-winger. But that very same plus in the general is a minus in the nominating process. The Virginia GOP base is strongly anti-tax, and no doubt his opponents will use that vote against him. National anti-tax groups might get involved, too. On the other hand, the national GOP can make sure Hurt is much better funded than any of his GOP foes. The party rank-and-file may be willing to overlook the tax vote if they conclude that Hurt is the most likely to defeat Tom Perriello.”

Whomever the Republicans nominate, Sabato said, will have a difficult task ahead.

“Do Republicans think Perriello will be tough to beat, or easy to beat in 2010? No one can say for sure what the dynamics will be in the fall a year from now. But the truth is that Perriello has been an energetic incumbent who has considerably strengthened his position in the 5th. Taking him down will not be a cinch, even for a strong Republican candidate in a GOP-tilting year.”

Boyd, the only other elected official running, said he welcomes Hurt to the campaign.

“It certainly doesn’t change my plans. I’m looking forward to a spirited debate,” he said. “We bring different strengths to the table and hopefully we’ll all do what’s best for the Republican Party.”