With the death of Jo Ann Davis, the race on the Republican side for her 1st Congressional district seat is on. About seven or eight people have declared their intentions, including the infamous Dick Black, who is said to have gotten an apartment in the district in order to run.
But the name missing from the list? Melanie Rapp. At the time she announced her retirement from the General Assembly, it was rumored that she was doing so in order to prepare for a run for this seat. Yet no word at all from her camp. Maybe she really just wanted to retire.
No word yet on a Democratic candidate, either. Yes, the 1st is a reliably Republican district. (Bush got 60% of the vote here in 2004, Kilgore got 51% in 2005, and Allen got 54% in 2006.) So any Democratic candidate would have an uphill battle for the December 11 special election. And if s/he were to win, turn around and start campaigning for November 2008. Not an easy task.
VIVIAN J. PAIGE | All Politics is Local 
Media reports that Rapp is supporting Chuck Davis. FYI
If Democrats can find another man who is the caliber of John Miller, (who is going to win the First Senate District), to run in the First Congressional District against a field of four or five men who are seen as extreme, or from the Religious Reich, like Dick Black, then there could be real hope for a conservative Democrat to win in the First.
If the Republicans had any sense, they would get Marty Williams, or Glenn Oder to run. I don’t like the premise that when a member of Congress, or other office, dies, their spouse steps in to be elected. That seems too much like royalty, to me. Let’s get someone else in that seat; someone who actually has lived here and raised a family here, paid the damned taxes and who has a real commitment to get our leviathan government under control and back to within its Constitutional limits.
I really liked Herb Bateman. He was a Republican who remembered his Democratic roots and always was an effective advocate for our local working men. With Herb in Congress, families knew that he was doing all he could to keep jobs in the Peninsula area.
John Miller will be a good guy for all of our citizens in the State Senate, much like Herb Bateman was for us in Congress. If Democrats could find another guy like John, I think many Republicans could cross over and support him for the First Congressional District race.
Good points Clairese. Especially given that George Allen was held to 54%, despite the obvious Republican lean of the district, it would seem that a traditionally conservative Virginia Democrat could win this election. As Vivian points out, it would be a tremendously uphill battle even if he or she won immediately after winning, just to prepare for 2008. But, I think as well, that it could be done.
Who lives in the 1st that can suggest some out-of-the-box candidates that would be popular among the voters in the 1st? It wasn’t too long ago that an “out-of-the-box” Jim Webb appeared and we all know where that one went!
I honestly think the exurban areas of DC in Prince William, Stafford, Spotsylvania, and Fredericksburg that are in the First District will be more competitive than they had been in the 2002-2006 era. They are pretty damn tired of traffic in that area too, and really would like to see solutions-oriented candidates, not ideologues.
wow, i see that david caprara is running for this seat now. i’m surprised, i thought he learned his lesson when he tried to take herb batement down. this district don’t take kindly to hard-core moonies…
You can also add the blue cities of Newport News and Hampton into the mix, however it will be hard. It is winnable with the right strategy and great campaigner.
GEM, Tim Kaine did well in the parts of Hampton and Newport News in the 1st, but those parts of the cities are pretty conservative. Ask John Miller. He should defeat Stall but it will be close.