The rumor mill has it that State Senator Donald McEachin is running for statewide office. He says on his blog that it’s not Governor. But he’s established a PAC, a blog and a Facebook page. Maybe it’s just that every modern day politician realizes those are essentials.
Or is McEachin seeking another run at the Office of Attorney General, or if not Governor, Lt. Governor?
In 2001 McEachin won the Democratic nomination for Attorney General. But in the general election, he was trounced by Jerry Kilgore, the top vote getter in that election. McEachin lost by more than 20 points.
But in politics, 12 years is a lifetime. Back in 2007, McEachin defeated incumbent State Senator Benjamin Lambert in a primary. Lambert was ousted for his support of Senator George Allen’s reelection campaign. Still can McEachin garner the campaign structure and more importantly the financial backing to make another statewide run? Or will he become another perennial statewide loser?
In 1977, a young Delegate from the Shenandoah Valley was elected to be the first Republican Attorney General in decades. Four years later J. Marshall Coleman lost the Governor’s race to Chuck Robb. He resurfaced in 1985 as a candidate for Lt. Governor, not willing to take on Wyatt Durrette and Stan Parris in the Governor’s race. Coleman lost that five way nomination to John Chichester. In a surprising primary result, Coleman again became the Republican standard bearer in 1989 and lost the Governorship to Doug Wilder by less than 6,000 votes.
Most assumed Coleman was through in Virginia politics. And, in Republican circles he was. But in 1994, Senator John Warner recruited Coleman to run for the U.S. Senate as an Independent. Warner couldn’t stand the thought of Oliver North winning. On a night when Republicans were winning in landslides across the nation, the result was to hand Chuck Robb a second term.
There’s no way of knowing if Donald McEachin’s career will be as successful and illustrious as Marshall Coleman’s. But I can’t recall the last time the loser of a statewide campaign came back around to win the next time.
It could happen. Only time will tell if Donald McEachin is the man to do it.
