2010 Virginia's 5th congressional district election explained

Virginia's 5th congressional district election, 2010 was an election held to determine who would represent Virginia's 5th congressional district in the United States House of Representatives during the 112th Congress. The candidates were incumbent Democrat Tom Perriello, Republican state Senator Robert Hurt and Independent candidate Jeffrey Clark. Hurt narrowly defeated Perriello in the general election, 51% to 47%, with Clark receiving 2% of the vote.^[1]

Background

See also: 2010 United States House of Representatives elections in Virginia.

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 8922.03sqmi - 193sqmi. 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,^[2] although he said several Conservative groups asked him to run on a pro-Tea Party ticket, due to their dissatisfaction with the Republicans.^[3] Assembly line worker Bradley Rees filed to run as a Republican, then stated he would run on the Virginia Conservative Party ticket,^[4] and then suspended his campaign in 2009.^[5]

Republican primary

Hurt won the Republican nomination a seven-way primary on June 8, 2010, with results:^{[6] [7]}

• 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^[8]

Polling

Poll source	Dates administered	Tom Perriello (D)	Robert Hurt (R)	Jeffrey Clark (I)	Undecided
Survey USA[9] [10]	October 28, 2010	45%	align=center	50%	4%	3%
Survey USA	September 28, 2010	35%	align=center	58%	4%	3%
Benenson Strategy Group[11]	September 21, 2010	44%	align=center	46%	4%	5%
Global Strategy Group[12]	September 7, 2010	42%	align=center	44%	6%	7%
Survey USA[13]	September 2, 2010	35%	align=center	61%	2%	2%
American Action Forum[14]	August 12, 2010	43%	align=center	49%	-	8%
Survey USA[15]	July 20, 2010	35%	align=center	58%	4%	3%
Public Policy Polling[16]	February 5–10, 2010	44%	44%

General election results

^[1]

External links

• Race ranking and details from CQ Politics
• Campaign contributions from OpenSecrets
• Race profile at The New York Times

Official campaign sites

• Feda for Congress
• Ferrin for Congress
• Hurt for Congress
• McKelvey for Congress
• McPadden for Congress
• Perriello for Congress incumbent
• Verga for Congress
• Video: Perriello supporter gets violent

Notes and References

1. Web site: November 2, 2010 General and Special Elections Official Results. State Board of Elections. 30 March 2011. https://web.archive.org/web/20110721074243/https://www.voterinfo.sbe.virginia.gov/election/DATA/2010/EB24720D-F5C6-4880-8DC5-12AE4D0C3772/official/6_s.shtml. 21 July 2011. dead. dmy-all.
2. News: Goode won't seek GOP nod . K.A. Wagoner . . July 27, 2009 . https://archive.today/20130103231059/http://www.martinsvillebulletin.com/article.cfm?ID=19865 . dead . January 3, 2013 .
3. News: Virgil Goode: Candidate in 2010? . Brian . Damewood . . January 18, 2010 . 2010-06-08 . https://web.archive.org/web/20100125121807/http://www.wset.com/news/stories/0110/697207.html . 2010-01-25 . dead .
4. News: Rees says he’s not running as Republican in Fifth District . Dave . Thompson . . October 29, 2009 . https://wayback.archive-it.org/all/20091101224127/http://www2.newsadvance.com/lna/news/local/article/rees_says_hes_not_running_as_republican_in_fifth_district/20893/ . dead . November 1, 2009 . June 8, 2010 . mdy-all .
5. Web site: Bradley Rees for Congress . Reesforcongress.com . 2009-06-13 . 2010-08-25.
6. https://www.voterinfo.sbe.virginia.gov/election/DATA/2010/3429C052-221D-420E-B117-AB75E2FD4894/Official/6_s.shtml Official Results
7. News: Campbell Republican joins race for Fifth District . Ray . Reed . . October 16, 2009 . https://wayback.archive-it.org/all/20091025201322/http://www2.newsadvance.com/lna/news/local/article/campbell_republican_joins_race_for_fifth_district/20483/ . dead . October 25, 2009 .
8. Web site: Clark Officially Qualified for November Ballot . NBC29 . 2010-08-25.
9. Web site: SurveyUSA Election Poll #17137. www.surveyusa.com.
10. Web site: SurveyUSA poll has Hurt up 23 points. https://web.archive.org/web/20101002071015/http://www2.godanriver.com/news/2010/sep/29/surveyusa-poll-has-hurt-23-points-ar-532811/. dead. 2010-10-02. Danville Register & Bee. 2010-09-29. 2010-10-03.
11. News: 2nd Democratic poll shows tight race for Perriello . https://web.archive.org/web/20110927105942/http://voices.washingtonpost.com/virginiapolitics/2010/09/2nd_democratic_poll_shows_tigh.html. dead. September 27, 2011. washingtonpost.com . 2010-09-21 . 2010-09-21.
12. News: With new poll, Democrats make case that Perriello race is still competitive . https://web.archive.org/web/20110927105942/http://voices.washingtonpost.com/virginiapolitics/2010/09/2nd_democratic_poll_shows_tigh.html. dead. September 27, 2011. washingtonpost.com . 2010-09-07 . 2010-09-21.
13. Web site: No Purchase for Perriello in VA-05, Another Democratic Incumbent Congressman in Trouble . surveyusa.com . 2010-09-02 . 2010-09-02.
14. Web site: GOP poll gives Hurt 6-point edge over Perriello . https://archive.today/20120720043903/http://voices.washingtonpost.com/virginiapolitics/2010/08/gop_poll_gives_hurt_6-point_ed.html. dead. July 20, 2012. Washingtonpost.com . 2010-08-17 . 2010-09-06.
15. Web site: News7 Survey USA poll gives Republican challenger a commanding lead in 5th District Congressional Race . wdbj7.com . 2010-07-20 . 2010-08-25 . https://web.archive.org/web/20100831021647/http://www.wdbj7.com/news/wdbj7-story-survey-usa-fifth-district-072010,0,7514986.story . 2010-08-31 . dead .
16. Web site: Giroux . Greg . Va. Poll: Perriello Tied With Hurt, Goode - The Eye (CQ Politics) . Blogs.cqpolitics.com . 2010-02-11 . 2010-08-25 . https://web.archive.org/web/20100726051242/http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/eyeon2010/2010/02/va-poll-perriello-tied-with-hu.html . 2010-07-26 . dead .