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Republican hopeful Rob Wittman speaks at the district convention yesterday at Caroline High School. |
BY CHELYEN DAVIS
Del. Rob Wittman was chosen as the 1st Congressional District Republican nominee last night, beating out 10 other candidates in a hours-long convention at Caroline High School.
Democrats at their district convention in Williamsburg nominated Iraq veteran and former teacher Phil Forgit.
The two will face off in a Dec. 11 special election to fill the term of Jo Ann Davis, who died last month of breast cancer.
If Wittman wins, there will be yet another special election to fill his seat. That's likely to be set by House Speaker Bill Howell, and it's not yet clear whether it would run afoul of a state law prohibiting elections in the 60 days before a primary--in this case, the presidential primaries in February.
It's possible Wittman's seat, which covers the Northern Neck, would be empty during the 2008 legislative session.
While there were only two Democratic candidates for the nomination, there were 11 Republicans. The Republican convention lasted nine hours and went for five ballots.
Wittman wasn't the front-runner for most ballots. That was Williamsburg businessman Paul Jost, who spent thousands of dollars on staff, campaign mail and buses to get delegates to the convention.
But as low-vote-getting candidates dropped off each ballot, Wittman's support rose. Finally, on the fifth ballot, Davis' widower, Chuck Davis, who had sought the seat to continue his wife's policies, was the low vote-getter and endorsed Wittman.
Immediately afterward, Gloucester resident Sherwood Bowditch, who had been doing well in the balloting but was behind Wittman, conceded and asked his delegates to support Wittman.
Soon afterward, Jost conceded. In a speech to delegates, Jost supporter Del. Jeff Frederick earned some boos from Wittman supporters for saying Wittman had supported "one of the largest tax increases in Virginia" and that delegates should remember that.
"I look forward to being the nominee," Wittman said in a speech to delegates before Jost conceded. "We can win this election. We will win this election."
In an earlier address to the convention, Wittman had touted his experience on the Westmoreland Board of Supervisors, the Montross Town Council and in the House of Delegates.
He promised to fight against illegal immigration, to work for stability in the Middle East and to "make government work with a conscience."
There were 560 delegate votes at stake, because Caroline County's nine delegates were not seated. Jost and former Del. Dick Black, also a candidate for the nomination, had said Caroline's GOP held its mass meeting to select delegates before the time it had specified. Caroline's chairman said that wasn't so, but the credentials committee sided with Jost and Black.
At the Democratic convention, Forgit was selected over 62-year-old Ted Hontz of Stafford County.
Forgit, a 40-year-old documentary filmmaker from Williamsburg, was an elementary school teacher when his Navy Reserve unit activated him and he served in Iraq.
The 1st District stretches from the Peninsula in Hampton Roads into the outer suburbs of Northern Virginia, spreading into the Northern Neck and taking in most of Fredericksburg.
The district had been firmly in Republican hands for 61/2 years since Davis won it, and under Republican Herb Bateman before her.
But the Democratic nominee can expect robust financial support from the Democratic Congressional Cam- paign Committee and from the Democrats who have won the last three contested statewide elections: former Gov. Mark R. Warner, Gov. Timothy M. Kaine and freshman U.S. Sen. Jim Webb.
Davis won the seat in 2000 and was re-elected three times after that without a serious challenge. She was diagnosed two years ago with breast cancer, never relinquishing her duties in the House. The disease returned this summer. She died at her Gloucester County home Oct. 6.
The Associated Press contributed to this story. Chelyen Davis: 804/782-9362