Some disappointing news out of West Virginia, where State Sen. John Unger, who had been the consensus Democratic candidate for the Second District seat held by Republican Shelley Moore Capito, has bowed out at the last minute:
State Sen. John Unger has ended his campaign for West Virginia’s 2nd District congressional seat, saying he did not want to take part in an election process that was broken and soured by the "greed of money and tearing people down."
"I’d rather give hope and build people up," Unger, D-Berkeley, said in an interview Saturday, the day after he said he decided to end his campaign for the seat held by Republican Rep. Shelley Moore Capito "for now."
"We haven’t stopped. It’s just not now," said Unger, leaving the door open for a future campaign.
Unger had been the DCCC's top choice for the seat, and had raised a bit over $250,000 for his race against Capito. His departure from the race is certainly a disappointment for the Democratic party, which had rallied around Unger as the party's best hope for taking back the seat since Capito first won it in 2000. West Virginia Blue has a good analysis of Unger's departure.
Fortunately, however, we will have a serious candidate in the race; after Unger's departure, Senator Robert Byrd's long-time state director Anne Barth has filed for the race. Barth had considered running six months ago, but had initially deferred to Unger. The DCCC and West Virginia's congressional delegation have instantly united behind Barth's candidacy:
Byrd said in a statement that, "as my state director for over two decades, Anne has plenty of hands-on experience working with other congressional members."
DCCC chairman Chris Van Hollen of Maryland issued a statement that called Barth "an A+ candidate with unparalleled experience and support from West Virginians."
Barth has never held elected office, as far as I know, so we'll have to see how she performs on the campaign trail. Still, she should be a legitimate candidate in the race, which is more than the Republicans can say for the rest of West Virginia's races; they have failed completely to field candidates against Democratic Congressmen Alan Mollohan and Nick Rahall, and will be fielding only token opposition against Governor Joe Manchin and Senator Jay Rockefeller.
Meanwhile, in Kentucky, former Republican Rep. Anne Northup, who represented the Louisville-based Third District for five terms, has decided on a rematch against freshman Democratic Rep. John Yarmuth:
Kentucky Republican Anne M. Northup, a former member of the U.S. House of Representatives, will challenge freshman Democratic Rep. John Yarmuth this year in a rematch for the Louisville-based seat she lost to him in the 2006 election.
...
Northup’s entry fills what was a potentially devastating void for the Republicans, whose original top recruit for this year’s race, lawyer and former state official Erwin Roberts, dropped out just about two weeks before the filing deadline because of a military obligation.
While Northup is certainly a serious contender in a Democratic district where she managed to win five elections, Yarmuth should still be favored in the district. Northup is a staunch conservative (while Yarmuth is a solid progressive), and the district leans Democratic by nature; it was the only one of Kentucky's congressional district which favored Kerry over Bush in 2004. In addition, Yarmuth now has the advantage of incumbency, and it was largely Northup's ability to bring pork home which sealed her electoral victories in the past.
In addition, Northup has suffered an embarrassing defeat in the Kentucky Governor's race since her 2006 loss to Yarmuth, having been beaten handily in the primary by beleaguered incumbent Ernie Fletcher, who himself was crushed in the general election by Democrat Steve Beshear. It can't look good on your resume to have lost to the corrupt incumbent who was obliterated by a Democrat in a red state, only months after losing your own reelection.
Northup will run a tough race, and we certainly can't take anything for granted here. Still, I think Yarmuth has good reason to be confident going forward.