On Saturday, the 19th Senate District Republican Committee met to decide on the process for selecting a nominee to fill the soon-to-be vacant Senate seat of Representative-Elect Robert Hurt. The official call is published here on the RPV’s website, but basically between 2 and 6 p.m. on Tuesday, November 23rd, voters registered in the 19th Senate District will be able to vote at one of the six polling stations in the district that corresponds to their assigned precinct. The stations will be situated as follows: one in Danville, two in Pittsylvania County, two in Franklin County and one in Campbell County. The winner will then face Democrat Hank Davis in the Special Election.
Senate Majority Leader Richard Saslaw previously said that the Democrats would not field a nominee in the special election; apparently he did not consult local Democrats before making that announcement. Hank Davis, chairman of the Pittsylvania County Board of Supervisors, who ran for the board as an independent, has announced his intention to pursue the seat as a Democrat. Davis describes himself as a “pro-life, pro-gun, pro-business” Democrat who also opposes the governor’s ABC privatization plan and a controversial proposal to mine uranium in Pittsylvania County. In the heavily-Republican 19th Senate District, Davis might be just the kind of Democrat who could pull off an upset, perhaps explaining Sen. Saslaw’s reevaluation of his earlier statement. A Davis win would not be unthinkable: Hanks has represented the heavily Republican Chatham-Blairs as an independent for over one decade–whether his decision to run for the state Senate as a Democrat will diminish his support, or whether his conservative positions will help him pull-off the upset remains to be seen. Nonetheless, as this is a Special Election and Davis appears relatively popular with Pittsylvania County voters, 19th Senate District Republicans had better not take Davis’ candidacy for granted if they hope to keep Robert Hurt’s seat.
Meanwhile, Bill Stanley appears to be shoring-up his Tea Party support: Stanley received endorsements from both the Lynchburg Tea Party and Jim McKelvey’s Take Our Country Back PAC.
UPDATE:
Governor Bob McDonnell has set the date for the special elections to fill the vacancies left in the Virginia House of Delegates and Senate by Representatives-Elect Morgan Griffith and Robert Hurt, respectively. After the State Board of Elections certifies the votes from the November 2nd General Election next week, both Griffith and Hurt have told the governor’s office that they will file letters of resignation from their seats in the General Assembly. Once those letters have been received, Governor McDonnell will then formally set the date for the special election as January 11–one day prior to the opening of the new General Assembly session.
UPDATE 2:
Roanoke CBS-affiliate WDBJ-7 is reporting that a fifth Republican will announce for the 19th District Senate seat today: Jerry Grubb, a real estate appraiser from Pittsylvania County.
