Former Rep. Artur Davis, a Democrat-turned-Republican who represented Alabama in Congress and now calls Northern Virginia home, says he will not run for the seat of retiring Rep. Frank Wolf, Virginia Republican.
Mr. Davis said in a statement that a year ago, his “plan and ambition” was, in fact, to run for Mr. Wolf’s seat when the longtime congressman retired but that “a year is a long time to reflect.”
He says in making the decision, he’s decided to focus on the reasons he entered politics: bringing communities together and being a “constructive voice” on issues like education and poverty.
“[C]ampaigns can’t be about wishful thinking,” he said in a statement, according to Gannett. “I know full well that the national political climate is too polarized and ideological to make Congress the forum to achieve the values that drew me into politics in the first place. I also know that in the current environment, the process of competing for a partisan nomination wouldn’t exactly allow me to run a campaign focused on building common ground.”
Other Republican names that have been mentioned as possibilities to jump into the race are state Delegate Barbara Comstock, state Sen. Dick Black and businessman Keith Fimian, who narrowly lost to Democratic Rep. Gerry Connolly in 2010.
On the Democratic side, Fairfax County Supervisor John Foust of Dranesville is considered the front-runner for the party’s nomination.
Virginia’s 10th Congressional District, which has gradually moved north and west over the course of Mr. Wolf’s three decades in Congress, includes all or part of Clarke, Fairfax, Frederick, Loudoun and Prince William counties and the cities of Manassas, Manassas Park and Winchester.
• David Sherfinski can be reached at dsherfinski@washingtontimes.com.
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