Virginia House race, 5th Congressional District

Rep. Tom Perriello barely won his seat in 2008 — and he has no Obama coattails to ride on in 2010.  He was considered a fence-sitter on the Waxman-Markey climate and energy bill in the House last summer, but he ultimately voted for it — despite being the target of fake letters purported to come from groups in his district that opposed the bill.  In his 2008 campaign, Perriello called for expanding offshore drilling, but also for ending federal subsidies to oil companies and investing in clean energy. This year, he’s been endorsed by the League of Conservation Voters Action Fund.  To win again in his conservative district, he’ll have to put up quite a fight — but GOP infighting is giving him a boost already. The Republican Party is backing moderate state Sen. Robert Hurt, while Tea Party activists, enraged at Hurt’s earlier support for tax increases, have promised to run a third-party candidate if he wins the nomination in the June 8 primary. To further complicate matters, former Rep. Virgil Goode, Jr., whom Perriello beat by just 727 votes in 2008, is “lurking on the sidelines,” considering a possible run as an independent. Perriello is one of several Democrats from swing states who are trying to explain (or, in some cases, run away from) their votes on the Waxman-Markey bill; they’d be in more trouble if Republicans weren’t busy beating each other up over “purity.”

Read a Grist interview with Perriello.