SBE has finally updated their web site, so we're going to start the long process of updating you on the unopposed races, of which there are many. But the SBE site still isn't 100% Not Larry Sabato accurate, so please let us know if we leave any out. Our fearless webhead, Mosby's Ghost, will add these to the "race counter" in due time. That is, if Russ Potts doesn't get him spun up first.
Without further adieu, here is the first batch of unopposed races:
HD03 - Jackie T. Stump (D) - This good-hearted teddy bear of a mine worker can turn on the water works seemingly at will. He has shed tears in a multitude of public places. Stump got his start in coalfields politics by spending time in jail as a local union organizer. It seems rural Buchanan (that's "BUCK-anon") County loves their emotional delegate. The last time Stump was opposed was 1995, and he crushed his GOP opponent by nearly 2 to 1.
HD04 - Joseph P. Johnson, Jr. (D) - Why not? Someone has to sit in that chair.
HD05 - C.W. "Bill" Carrico, Jr. (R) - First elected in 2001, this former State Trooper is perhaps best known in the rest of Virginia for switching his vote on the mandatory seat belt bill after first fiercely (and publicly) supporting it. We doubt that flip-flop will hurt Carrico with his anti-government constituents in Southwest. He won re-election in 2003 by 54%. That doesn't seem like much until you consider most observers thought his opponent had a chance of toppling him.
HD08 - H. Morgan Griffith (R) - The Majority Leader. Have the Dems learned nothing? Never let the other party's floor leader off without a fight. Then he has time to circle the state stumping for his people and stomping on yours. Griffith won 59% in 2003, seemingly without lifting a finger. But that's a far cry from the nearly 70% he got in 2001.
Okay, that's the first batch. We'll be back with another batch tomorrow.
