Virginia Senator Robert Hurt’s decisive victory in last week’s GOP Congressional primary set the Fifth District’s own political Rube Goldberg machine in motion. In addition to ending the Congressional campaigns of his six competitors, including that of Albemarle County supervisor Ken Boyd, Hurt’s win nabbed him an endorsement from former Republican Congressman Virgil Goode and launched the campaign of a new challenger.
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Jeffrey Clark, an Independent candidate for the Fifth District Congressional seat, told C-VILLE that he was not surprised by Hurt’s primary win. “I am disappointed,” he said via e-mail. “I was working to see that one of the other six got the nomination.” |
In February, Public Policy Polling asked more than 900 voters in the Fifth District to consider a hypothetical November electoral match-up between Hurt and incumbent Democrat Tom Perriello; the candidates tied, each with 44 percent of the vote, and a hefty 12 percent undecided. When an unspecified “Tea Party” candidate was added as a third option, Perriello held steady at 44 percent, Hurt dropped to 27 percent and the Tea Party candidate claimed 19 percent.
Now, the third option has a name: Jeffrey Clark, a Danville businessman and member of that city’s Tea Party, although he told the Washington Post he did not consider himself “the Tea Party candidate.” Clark, who said he would only run if Hurt won the GOP nomination, told C-VILLE he was not surprised by the primary’s outcome. Nonetheless, Clark says the Fifth District is “set up well for an Independent to win.”
“We have many older Democrats that more identify with John F. Kennedy and Harry S. Truman then [sic] they do with the progressive arm of the Democratic Party,” Clark told C-VILLE via e-mail. “They could never see themselves voting for a Republican, but may be able to support an Independent.”
“We also have disenfranchised Republicans, like myself, that will not vote for Robert Hurt,” says Clark. “We also have true Independents [who] will not vote to continue the failures of either party.”
Whether a third, independent candidate could divide GOP voters or deliver a block vote from Tea Party members, however, remains to be seen.
“Perriello needs to go, without any question,” says Mark Lloyd, chairman for the Lynchburg Area Tea Party, by e-mail. “He is bad for Virginia’s Fifth District, and bad for our nation.” However, Lloyd said Tea Party voters in the Fifth District need time to consider their options, “to make decisions concerning whether their fear of Perriello overpowers their distrust of Robert Hurt, who they view as the establishment GOP candidate.”
“November will tell the tale,” adds Lloyd. “Mr. Hurt has some very hard work to do to tap into the Tea Party energy.”
Asked whether Perriello faces a tougher challenge from Hurt than one of the other GOP candidates, such as Boyd or Fluvanna County biology teacher Feda Kidd Morton, Perriello campaign manager Lise Clavel said she would “leave the questions about the strengths and weaknesses of other candidates to the political experts.
“Tom has been working incredibly hard for middle-class families of Central and Southside Virginia,” said Clavel. “He is looking forward to an honest, substantive debate with Senator Hurt and Mr. Clark.”
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