After keeping us in suspense for quite some time, Republican Rep. Randy Forbes announced on Monday that he'd seek re-election in Virginia's 2nd Congressional District, which is now open thanks to fellow GOP Rep. Scott Rigell's retirement. A new court-ordered congressional map had made Forbes' home seat, the 4th, far too blue for him (or any other Republican) to win, but he did have a few other options, though none of them were particularly good.
Part of Forbes' old turf was moved into the neighboring 7th District, where establishment Republicans have been eager to take Eric Cantor's loss out on freshman Rep. Dave Brat's hide. But Henrico County Sheriff Mike Wade beat Forbes to the draw, issued a primary challenge to Brat while Forbes' gun was still in its holster. Not long after, another Republican congressman, Rob Hurt, announced he was calling it quits, but despite sitting right next door, his 5th District shared little in common with the 4th-even their media markets barely overlap.
But Rigell to the rescue! The 2nd District, centered in Virginia Beach, is contained entirely within the Norfolk media market, which, as luck would have it, also covers half of the old 4th. That means Forbes, who's been in office for 15 years, should start off the race with a built-in name recognition advantage. He'll also be doing so with at least tacit support from Rigell, whose campaign office he used to deliver his re-election announcement.
Some local Republicans, though, aren't happy about Forbes carpetbagging into their neighborhood, and one notable pol, state Del. Scott Taylor, had already kicked off a bid of his own. Another, Virginia Beach Sheriff Ken Stolle, paid for robocalls urging people to tell Forbes he should stay put. That effort obviously didn't work, and as an incumbent whose built up lots of seniority, Forbes should be able to bring some considerable firepower to bear on this race. But as we've seen on the Democratic side elsewhere this year, locals can get testy when faced with interlopers.
Speaking of Democrats, they're still looking for a candidate here. The 2nd was redrawn a bit, too, though not as dramatically as the 4th, flipping it from a seat Barack Obama carried 51-49 to won Mitt Romney won 51-49. That shift certainly helps Republicans, but as an open seat, this district remains competitive on paper, especially since Democrats will be fighting win Virginia on the presidential level this year. A few names have circulated, but no one has affirmatively expressed interest yet.