Word: districters
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...they prayed for the seven Republicans arrayed onstage, who had crammed into a high school auditorium recently in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains to vie for the party's congressional nomination in Virginia's Fifth Congressional District. (See TIME's video of a Tea Party convention...
...district's current lawmaker, freshman Democrat Tom Perriello, had squeaked into office by 727 votes in 2008 - the narrowest margin nationwide - and so the crowd sensed opportunity. They began arriving an hour in advance, donning T-shirts touting their chosen candidates, unfurling banners and stacking campaign literature on plastic tables. Grandparents hobnobbed and hoisted signs; teens twirled "Don't Tread on Me" flags...
...race in Virginia's Fifth Congressional District is shaping up to be like many races in 2010: marked by uncommon passion. Seven Republicans are running for the chance to unseat Perriello. Nearly all of them are unburdened by the baggage of a political past, enlivened by a wheezing economy, buoyed by the Tea Party movement and incensed by Washington's profligacy. They are targeting the 56% of Americans who believe the federal government poses an immediate threat to their freedom, according to a recent CNN poll, and tapping into renewed fears about the country's direction. If Republicans can harness...
With the primary still three months away, the hopefuls in the district include a state senator, a county supervisor, a former naval officer, three businessmen and a biology teacher. On a recent Saturday night, they faced questions from their would-be bosses. Who posed the gravest threat to America's national security? "The present Administration," said Jim McKelvey, a Franklin County real estate developer who ponied up $500,000 to jump-start his campaign. (Another candidate, Laurence Verga, suggested "the people that voted the current Administration in.") Instead of jousting over policy, the seven hopefuls served up a buffet...
Virginia's Fifth Congressional District is about the size of New Jersey. Sprawling from the center of the state down to the North Carolina border, it was once home to thriving textile and tobacco industries. But jobs have been drying up for decades; in the city of Martinsville, unemployment has soared over 20%. Outside such liberal enclaves as Charlottesville, the district is a conservative stronghold of farms and small-business owners who resent federal intrusions. In 2008, Perriello cashiered incumbent Republican Virgil Goode by capitalizing on an Obama-fueled turnout of African-American and college-age voters. And while Perriello...