The Franklin News-Post
P. O. Box 250
310 Main Street, SW
Rocky Mount, Virginia 24151
540-483-5113
Fax: 540-483-8013
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Robert Hurt |
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
By JOEL TURNER - Staff Writer
State Sen. Robert Hurt has received nearly $300,000 in campaign contributions.
Hurt, one of seven candidates in the June 8 GOP primary, said he has received campaign donations from more than 450 people.
The majority of his campaign funds have come from the Fifth District, and over 80 percent was contributed by in-state donors, Hurt said.
Hurt (R-Chatham) said he began soliciting campaign donations only after last November's election so as not to distract fundraising efforts by the statewide GOP candidates.
"I'm incredibly humbled by and grateful to all the people who have recognized the importance of this campaign and the promise of my candidacy," Hurt said.
"Defeating (Congressman) Tom Perriello (a Democrat) in November will not be easy, and it will take someone who can persuade hardworking folks from Danville to Charlottesville that this cause is worth their time and investment," he said.
Hurt, who represents Franklin County in the Virginia Senate, is viewed as the most moderate GOP candidate in the primary race.
Some of his opponents in the GOP primary have criticized Hurt for voting for tax hikes in the General Assembly and questioned Hurt's conservative credentials and support.
Mike McPadden, one of the candidates for the GOP nomination, wants conservatives in the district to hold a convention to nominate one candidate to run against Hurt in the GOP primary.
Hurt is a likable person personally, McPadden said, but "Democrats and moderates like Hurt will vote to raise taxes when the going gets tough."
McPadden, an airline pilot and a former Navy officer and aviator who lives in Albemarle County, said the proposal for a conservative convention is gaining support in the Fifth District.
"We are working on that. I am optimistic we will end up with one candidate" to oppose Hurt in the GOP primary,
But Hurt's supporters say he has a solid conservative voting record in the state legislature.
Six of the Republican candidates participated in a
debate in Charlottesville this past weekend, which was sponsored by Tea Party activists.
Hurt did not participate in the debate, saying it was scheduled during the General Assembly session.
Hurt himself has proposed five debates by the GOP candidates across the district.
Meanwhile, Tea Party activists in the the Fifth District have asked former Congressman Virgil H. Goode Jr., a Republican, to consider running for his old seat.
Goode confirmed that he has met with Tea Party conservatives, but he declined to comment on the possibility of running for Congress again.
Goode, who held the Fifth District seat for 12 years and narrowly lost to Perriello in November 2008, announced last summer that he would not seek the Republican nomination for the 2010 election.
Grassroots Republicans, Tea Party supporters and other conservatives wanted the Fifth District Republican Committee to select a convention instead of a costly primary election, McPadden said.
Holding a conservative convention and narrowing the GOP field in the June 8 primary to two candidates "will increase the odds that a conservative will win the nomination," McPadden said.
In addition to McPadden and Hurt, the other GOP candidates in the June primary are Kenneth Boyd, a member of the Albemarle County Board of Supervisors; Ron Ferrin, a Campbell County resident who owns an internet company; Jim McKelvey, a Franklin County real estate developer; Feda Morton, a Fluvanna County teacher; and Laurence Verga, a real estate investor from Albemarle County. |
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