Virginia Legal*Political Blog

Former Rep. Virgil Goode apparently has abandoned any plan to regain his 5th District seat in the House of Representatives. The Roanoke Times, among others, reports Goode has released a statement saying he will not challenge Tom Perriello, who beat Goode by 727 votes to win the Congressional seat last year. By Peter Vieth

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Radford University religion professor Carter Turner today announced his bid to unseat House majority leader Morgan Griffith, R-Salem. Turner replaces Ginny Weisz as the Democrat on the ballot. Weisz withdrew from the race last week. The Roanoke Times notes Turner’s announcement here, but, for the real scoop, we went to RateMyProfessors.com. According to students’ ratings, [...]

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Eight Republicans have thrown hats into the ring for their party’s nomination to succeed Del. Chris Saxman, R-Staunton, reports The News Leader. Saxman, a four-term veteran, surprised observers by announcing last week he was quitting the legislature to spend time on more personal projects. A candidates forum is scheduled for Monday, according to the paper.

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Speaking of crossing sides, the Richmond Times-Dispatch reports that several former Republican legislators say they’re backing Creigh Deeds for governor. According to the article, the seven former legislators plan to join a group called “Virginians for Deeds.” One of the memebers criticized McDonnell’s plan, saying it would be doomed from the start because it would take [...]

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Sheila Johnson, a co-founder of Black Entertainment Television, is crossing party lines to endorse Republican Bob McDonnell for governor. According to The Washington Post, Johnson, who chaired Gov. Kaine’s inaugural committee, said she believes the former attorney general is the better choice for spurring economic development. Johnson’s opinion could be influential in the African American [...]

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Del. Chris Saxman, R-Staunton, abruptly announced today he is withdrawing from his bid for re-election to the House.  According to newspapers in Staunton and Harrisonburg, Republicans expect to nominate Staunton councilman Richard P. “Dickie” Bell to take Saxman’s place on the November ballot. Saxman, a four-term veteran of the House, explained his surprise decision by [...]

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So you can’t make it to the gubernatorial debate sponsored by the Virginia Bar Association at its summer meeting at The Homestead, even though you’re a real political junkie. Not a problem. The VBA plans to provide live streaming video over the Internet of the exchange between Democrat Creigh Deeds and Republican Bob McDonnell. The [...]

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The candidates for governor of Virginia aren’t shy about Twittering, Facebooking, texting and YouTubing their message to the cell phones, computers and PDAs of potential voters, reports the Washington Times. Social media played a prominent role in the 2008 presidential election. And although it’s unknown how many voters actually cast their ballots due to Twitter [...]

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Citing the need to attend to her consulting business, Del. Kristen J. Amundsen, D-Fairfax County, unexpectedly announced last week she will not run for another term.  Quickly stepping up to put a Democrat’s name on the ballot was County Democratic Chairman Scott Surovell, an experienced traffic attorney from Mount Vernon. Surovell will face Republican James [...]

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The Associated Press has declared Creigh Deeds the winner of the Democratic primary to nominate the party’s candidate for governor.  Deeds will square off against Republican Bob McDonnell in the November election. Deeds, a state senator from Bath County, defeated former national party chair Terry McAuliffe and former delegate Brian Moran. Jody Wagner won the [...]

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