TIME CHANGE: We are moving to 3:00 (3-4pm) so please check in with us one hour later than our usual time.
The bi-weekly Bearing Drift political panel will return for its third townhall moderated by Chris Saxman. Writers and editors who plan to share in the conversation include:
This week Dr. Cameron Webb [1] will join us as we discuss the 5th Congressional District that covers an area from the suburbs of Northern Virginia, pulls in Charlottesville, and runs south to the North Carolina state line (see map here [2]).
Republicans in the 5th made this an open seat by defeating conservative-inclusive incumbent Congressman Denver Riggleman after he officiated at the wedding of two of his campaign volunteers who were gay, and replacing him with further right-leaning candidate Bob Good (see here [3] and here [4]).
Dr. Webb, who grew up in Spotsylvania [5] and has degrees in medicine and law, won the Democratic primary with 66.5 percent of the vote in a contest against three other candidates, and will now face Good in November’s general election.
In the red 5th, the Republican candidate would normally be expected to win. However, current political waters are rough for the GOP and, even in a red district, there are cautionary signs. One of those signs may be fundraising. The latest numbers from the second quarter show Dr. Webb raising more than $850,000 to Good’s $68,000.
Both Dr. Larry Sabato of the University of Virginia political center and the Cook Political Report moved this race from “Likely Republican” to “Leans Republican.” The Washington Post noted the race as a “seat within reach for Democrats in the general election for the first time in more than a decade.”
Please join us Friday, July 17, from 3-4:00 p.m.