2010 Virginia's 5th congressional district election

Background

The seat being contested is located in Central and Southside Virginia. The district covers all or part of 18 counties and all of 4 independent cities, making it Virginia's largest district with an area of 8922.03 sqmi - 193 sqmi. larger than New Jersey. The 5th district has been represented by Democratic representative Tom Perriello since the 2008 election result, when he defeated Republican incumbent Virgil Goode by 727 votes, one of the closest elections in the nation.

The 5th congressional district was traditionally a conservative Democratic district. Incumbent Virgil Goode left the party to become an independent in 2000, and then a Republican two years later. In his 2008 defeat of Goode, Perriello out-performed the Democratic national ticket in the district, which Republican presidential candidate John McCain carried by 51% to 48%. In the previous two presidential elections George Bush won by 56% and 55%.

Goode did not seek a rematch against Perriello, although he said several Conservative groups asked him to run on a pro-Tea Party ticket, due to their dissatisfaction with the Republicans. Assembly line worker Bradley Rees filed to run as a Republican, then stated he would run on the Virginia Conservative Party ticket, and then suspended his campaign in 2009.

Republican primary

Hurt won the Republican nomination a seven-way primary on June 8, 2010, with results:

• Robert Hurt, State Senator, 48.42%
• James K. "Jim" McKelvey, from Franklin County, 25.89%
• Michael G. McPadden, 9.78%
• Kenneth C. Boyd, Albemarle County Supervisor, 7.37%
• Feda Kidd Morton, educator and Republican activist, 4.59%
• Laurence Paul Verga, private real estate investor, 2.26%
• Ron L. Ferrin, businessman, 1.64%

Candidates

• Tom Perriello, Democrat, incumbent U.S. Representative
• Robert Hurt, Republican, state Senator
• Jeffrey Clark, Independent

Polling

General election results

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References

References

1. "November 2, 2010 General and Special Elections Official Results". State Board of Elections.
2. K.A. Wagoner. (July 27, 2009). "Goode won't seek GOP nod". [[Martinsville Bulletin]].
3. Damewood, Brian. (January 18, 2010). "Virgil Goode: Candidate in 2010?". [[WSET-TV]].
4. Thompson, Dave. (October 29, 2009). "Rees says he’s not running as Republican in Fifth District". [[The News & Advance]].
5. (2009-06-13). "Bradley Rees for Congress". Reesforcongress.com.
6. [https://www.voterinfo.sbe.virginia.gov/election/DATA/2010/3429C052-221D-420E-B117-AB75E2FD4894/Official/6_s.shtml Official Results] {{Webarchive. link. (2010-10-14 , State Board of Elections.)
7. Reed, Ray. (October 16, 2009). "Campbell Republican joins race for Fifth District". [[The News & Advance]].
8. "Clark Officially Qualified for November Ballot". NBC29.
9. "SurveyUSA Election Poll #17137".
10. (2010-09-29). "SurveyUSA poll has Hurt up 23 points". Danville Register & Bee.
11. (2010-09-21). "2nd Democratic poll shows tight race for Perriello". washingtonpost.com.
12. (2010-09-07). "With new poll, Democrats make case that Perriello race is still competitive". washingtonpost.com.
13. (2010-09-02). "No Purchase for Perriello in VA-05, Another Democratic Incumbent Congressman in Trouble". surveyusa.com.
14. (2010-08-17). "GOP poll gives Hurt 6-point edge over Perriello". Washingtonpost.com.
15. (2010-07-20). "News7 Survey USA poll gives Republican challenger a commanding lead in 5th District Congressional Race". wdbj7.com.
16. Giroux, Greg. (2010-02-11). "Va. Poll: Perriello Tied With Hurt, Goode - The Eye (CQ Politics)". Blogs.cqpolitics.com.