House Election News
While there’s certainly a flurry of activity coming out of Capitol Square today with the end of the General Assembly Session (and it appears as if today will in fact be the end, but more on that later), there’s also big news on the election front.
First off, Republican William Fralin of Roanoke will be retiring. This move comes as somewhat of a surprise, as at 46 Fralin isn’t exactly an elder statesman in the House, and while Roanoke has (like many of Virginia’s cities) been bluing of recent vintage (46.3% for Bush in ’04 to 37.5% for McCain in 2008), the outlying territory is red enough that it was still a solid district for McCain. As a relative moderate in the House GOP Caucus (primarily on education and fiscal issues), Fralin could, COULD stand a shot against John Edwards in 2011. That, however, will take time to shake itself out. In the meantime, CraigOrndorff.com can now project that, should he secure re-election in November, Delegate Todd Gilbert of Woodstock will officially be the tallest member in the House of Delegates.
In related news, Delegate Steve Landes will face Democrat Greg Marrow this fall. Landes, who has represented the district for 14 years, has not faced much opposition. However, with a fading red Waynesboro at the heart of his district (63.9% for Bush in ’04 to 53.3% for McCain in 2008) Landes may face a stiff challenge, but again, the outlying territory in Rockingham and Augusta counties made this a solid McCain district in 2008. With both Landes and Matt Lohr facing challenges in November, this means that half of Rockingham County’s four man delegation is under fire. However, with Chris Saxman’s district being based in Staunton (which went from 60.3% for Bush in 2004 to 48.4% in 2008) and Todd Gilbert still under fire from liberal circles for his comments about Barack Obama this past fall, we may very well be seeing challengers for those two as well.
Stay tuned. This is shaping up to be a great political year in the Shenandoah Valley.
