2007 Races In SWVA

I've been meaning to write about this since our BVDC meeting on Monday night.

It appears that 2007 could be a potentially interesting year in my little part of the state.

State Senator William Wampler appears unlikely to face a Democratic challenger, since nobody has stepped up to run against him (and I'm not 21...), and time is running out for a viable candidate. According to our chairman, however, it appears possible that Senator Wampler will have a primary challenge from someone to his right, from up in Washington County.

Delegate Joe Johnson, if you don't know, isn't in as good a shape as he could be. He's had some major health issues since November/December of 2006 (which explains why he was absent from the campaign trail), and according to his brother, whom I ran into the other day, he's progressing, but not very quickly. The County and City Chairman who are in his district have until January 15th to meet and determine what to do about the race, and so therefore Delegate Johnson will have to make a decision before then. I know of at least a couple potentially strong Democratic candidates who are looking at the race should Delegate Johnson be forced to retire, but we'll not go into who they may be, out of respect for one of the best Delegates in Virginia.

Right now, I would place the probability at 50/50 Delegate Johnson will run for re-election. If he is going to run, he sure is cutting it close.

In the Wampler situation, I think it is of utmost importance our state party field candidates in all races, even if they don't appear to be extremely competitive. The 2006 Senate election is proof positive that one day can change the entire landscape of a campaign.