Everybody Gets a Second Chance

While Creigh Deeds may have missed narrowly in his quest to become Virginia's Attorney General, his performance in the general election last November may earn him a reward from Governor-elect Tim Kaine. The latest rumor in Richmond and Deeds' state Senate district is that Kaine is going to nominate his 2005 ticket-mate as the new Secretary of Transportation in his Cabinet.

This will open things up for a special election to be held in the oddly-shaped 25th Senate District in early or mid-February. Candidates have been lining up for months to replace Deeds, even before he won his party's nomination for Attorney General. (He initially had some opposition from state Senator John Edwards, who dropped out early to give Deeds an open field.)

The name bandied about most profligately is former Charlottesville City Councilor Meredith Richards, who ran for Congress in 2002 against veteran Virgil Goode (R-5CD). Richards might fare better in the safely Democratic 25th District (which was designed to be a sinecure for the late Emily Couric), although a Charlottesville-based liberal candidate might face some trouble in the more conservative western reaches of the district, such as Deeds' base in Bath County. So Richards shouldn't expect a free ride in obtaining the nomination.

On the Republican side, the most commonly mentioned potential candidate is Albemarle GOP unit chair Keith Drake, who has expressed interest in the seat. It is possible that one or more sitting GOP delegates whose districts overlap the 25th could be moved to run, but running for office during the General Assembly session might be seen as abdicating their responsibility toward their constituents in favor of furthering their personal political ambitions.