UPDATED: Where Are They Now?: People from the 5th District House Race

Update #1: Adding a name that was suggested by email. Thanks!

When Tom Perriello returned to Southside VA earlier this week (note that he didn’t make it to Danville), I was asked what happened to the major & minor players that participated in the 2010 election. That’s a good question and in the typical SouthsideCentral format, let’s take a fun look at the first article in a new feature series…Where Are They Now?

Let’s start at the top of the food chain and work from there…

• Robert Hurt – He comfortably cruised to a primary victory then knocked out a 1-term incumbent. Hurt ran a perfect campaign, laughing at the detractors in the primary who said he was a RINO (stupid-ass name) and a Horrible Tax Raiser. He knew that they would shut up and vote for him in the general election so he ignored them. The plan worked and he’s comfortably cruising to winning his 2nd term because he’s facing Some Guy from Up There on November. SouthsideVA doesn’t have much political clout any more, but they will propel Hurt to an easy return trip to DC.
• Tom Perriello – He’s been laying low since the election but don’t mistake quietness for surrender. Perriello is a smart, likeable man who has a lot of upwards potential and he’s just waiting for the right moment to get back into the political field. In Virginia politics, you’re not out until you lose two… and Perriello knows that unwritten rule.
• Jeff Clark – The Man Who Would Be Spoiler (and only got 2% of the vote) has completely disappeared from the political spectrum. Not only that, it appears that he’s closed his downtown Danville water testing company business and moved it to about 4 miles outside of South Boston.

Now let’s move to the six people that Hurt defeated in the primary. We’ll put them in descending order starting with the person who got the most votes.

• Jim McKelvey (26%) – After coming in 2nd to Robert Hurt, McKelvey created the “Take Our Country Back” political action committee and then he (and the PAC) proceeded to completely disappear. The PAC’s website domain has expired and I have no idea what’s going on with it.
• Mike McPadden (10%) – McPadden was the only person in the primary that I even considered voting for. He was intelligent, well-spoken and a man of his principles. He’s back to his job as an airline pilot. I had hoped that he would continue to be a presence in 5th District activities, but I’ve heard nothing political from him since the primary.
• Ken Boyd (7%) – Boyd hasn’t found Route 29 south of Albemarle County since the primary.
• Feda Morton (5%) – Endorsed by Bearing Drift, Morton’s campaign imploded as the primary neared voting day. She ended up being charged with an election fraud felony for that primary campaign. Now that’s comedy.
• Laurence Verga (2%) – What? Laurence Who? According to his locked Twitter feed, he’s now ” a GM for a cable/internet system, specializing in challenging negotiations, marketing and PR in Bend, Oregon”. Happy Trails, Laurence!
• Ron Ferrin (2%) – The most fun candidate in the primary is back to doing his own educational video business. Ferrin didn’t give a damn, knew he had no chance to win and had fun throughout the campaign. That’s my kinda guy.

Now let’s go to some other people that were involved in the campaign…

• Brad Rees – The man who was in the race became the man who was out of the race then became the man who was in the race under a different party became the man out of the race again. Rees is a good guy and has no problem telling you his opinions… but few are listening.
• Dana Hale – She was (is?) the head of the Campbell County Libertarian party than moved into a semi-alliance with the Lynchburg Tea Party. She didn’t like Hurt and when he won the primary, her head exploded. Later, she said “I’d rather have Perriello for 2 (years) than Hurt for 20”. I called her out on that statement and attacked me. She’s now politically disappeared.
• Joshua Solovskoy – Mike McPadden’s former campaign manager had a disagreement with McPadden on social issues,  left the campaign then melted down in spectacular fashion. After Josh Solovskoy exploded, he died. He came back to life as Joshua Pratt (70% less insane and less filling!). He & Bill Hay created the Ronald Reagan Institute For Conservative Blahblahblahsomething. That went very well (and by very well, I mean horribly). Due to the misuse of Reagan’s name, he was spinning in his grave so fast that it was causing seismic tremors. He’s back to being a preacher somewhere in Lynchburg.
• Chris LaCivita – The political consultant for Hurt’s campaign continues to be in high demand. Hire him if you’re in a close race and you’re probably going to win.
• Tucker Watkins – The former head of the 5th District Republican Committee still knows what’s going on and how to influence things. Don’t let his laid-back style fool you.
• Bill Stanley – Onwards & upwards for the current 5th District Republican Chairman. He’s got a firm hand on the controls and knows how to get things done.
• Catherine Amos – Former politics reporter for the R&B, she did her two year stint then left town, never to be seen again in Danville. Amos wasn’t as bad as Sarah Arkin, her predecessor who was lousy. She was known for having a quote in most of her stories from either Larry Sabato’s “Junior Master Of The Obvious” Isaac Wood or Brad Rees. She’s now working for the University of Richmond doing something with public relations.

Anybody else I didn’t mention? Let’s hear about it in the comments.