Thursday, November 12, 2009
Boucher, Perriello in cross hairs as GOP eyes 2010
Observers say freshman Perriello may be vulnerable, but Boucher has a record of service.
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roanoke.com/politics
With last week's sweeping electoral victories and a national debate over health care and energy reform, Republicans have turned their attention to the 2010 Congressional midterm elections.
Two of the region's Democratic congressmen are dead in the cross hairs: Rep. Rick Boucher of Abingdon and Rep. Tom Perriello of Albemarle County. Six Republican candidates -- the highest profile name being state Sen. Robert Hurt of Chatham -- and a Virginia Conservative Party candidate have announced candidacies in Perriello's 5th District. Meanwhile, an independent, Jeremiah Heaton, has entered the race in Boucher's 9th District, but a substantial Republican challenge may be coming soon.
Del. Terry Kilgore, R-Scott County, confirmed in a recent interview that he is considering a congressional bid.
The National Republican Congressional Committee followed up on state GOP victories in last week's election by sending an e-mail that targeted four of the state's five Democratic congressmen: Boucher; Perriello; Gerald Connolly of Fairfax County; and Glenn Nye of Norfolk.
Connolly, Nye and Perriello all may be vulnerable in part because they're freshmen legislators. But Boucher -- a longtime legislator first elected in 1982 -- clearly is the Democratic big game that Republicans would like to bag.
Perriello already had received criticism this summer for voting with national Democrats to establish a national cap-and-trade system to limit greenhouse gases, but Saturday's vote in favor of a health care reform bill triggered a new round of attacks.
"He has shown he is just out of touch totally with what the people in the 5th District want," said district GOP chairman Tucker Watkins. "I don't think he sees the writing on the wall at all."
In a conference call Monday, Perriello said his support for the health care bill was a vote for lower premiums, a reduced national deficit and an elimination of regional disparities in payments to health care providers.
He also insisted that the state of the economy, not his vote for the health bill, will be the deciding factor in his re-election bid.
In the 9th District, Washington, D.C.-based Republicans are already taking aim on Boucher but so far lack a candidate. In addition to Kilgore, another GOP possibility would be state Sen. William Wampler, R-Bristol, whose father held the seat before Boucher.
Kilgore said last week that he's not yet decided whether to run -- "not yet" anyway -- but he sees potential for a challenge to Boucher. Republican governor-elect Bob McDonnell won 66 percent of the vote in Boucher's district -- a nearly 2-to-1 margin over Democrat Creigh Deeds, who resides in Western Virginia.
What's more, 25-year-old Republican Will Morefield unseated incumbent Del. Dan Bowling, D-Tazewell County, on the strength of a campaign that focused largely on energy issues.
"Last night bode well for somebody that would look at this race," Kilgore said of last week's election.
National Republicans see Boucher as vulnerable because of his high-profile work on the cap-and-trade legislation. Critics say his vote for the bill will ultimately increase energy prices and kill thousands of jobs within his district.
Boucher has argued he's worked to protect the district's coal industry through the inclusion of measures intended to enable electricity providers to continue to use coal, to provide funding for research of "clean coal" technology and to generally lower targets for reductions in carbon dioxide emissions.
Boucher was one of 39 Democrats who voted against the health care bill. That presents at least one obstacle for Republicans who want to tie him to the House Democratic leadership. Another may come from trying to challenge an entrenched incumbent in a year when Republicans expect to target races across the United States and more than one in Virginia.
National Republican Congressional Committee spokesman Andy Sere said the cost of advertising in the 9th District may prove attractive, however.
"From a practical standpoint I'd keep in mind that Southwest Virginia's media markets are relatively inexpensive, which means a challenger is going to be able to get his message out without having to spend the type of money he'd have to spend if he was in Northern Virginia."
But Boucher has long proven his staying power, and Republicans could find him a tough nut to crack.
"The question is Rick taking care of his knitting like he should to earn the trust of the people of the 9th District to re-elect him," said Richard Cranwell, chairman of the Democratic Party of Virginia. "I think he has. He's one of the best at constituent service and bringing home the bacon of any congressman in America."
Like Perriello, Boucher said that economic issues will likely outweigh cap-and-trade in his district. Nevertheless, he said that he's planning a series of public meetings in his district's coal-producing counties to discuss the legislation and his work to soften it.
Other Republican candidates in the 5th District include Ron Ferrin of Campbell County, Michael McPadden of Albemarle County, Feda Kidd Morton of Fluvanna County, and Laurence Verga and Kenneth Boyd of Albemarle County.
Bradley Rees of Bedford County is the Conservative Party candidate.
Staff writers Cody Lowe and Janelle Rucker contributed to this story.
