For comparison, there were four other districts in Virginia with Republican primaries on June 8. In the First District, with two candidates vying for the nomination, turnout was 6.8%. District Two saw six candidates and a turnout of 9.9%. The Eighth District had two candidates, and only 3.4% of active voters turned out. And in the Eleventh, with two candidates, turnout was 7.7%. So the Fifth District, with all the national attention, all the Tea Party activity and a very vulnerable Democrat to run against in the fall, turned out just a bit more than an average number of Republican voters. (In the 2008 General Election, the McCain/Palin ticket drew about 162,000 votes. This turnout might be viewed as around 22% of the potential Republican vote in the District).

Jeff Clark of Danville, a TEA Party conservative, chose to not run in the Republican Primary, but has filed to appear on the ballot in the November 2 General Election as an Independent. He had maintained throughout the primary season that he would only step in if Hurt was the nominee. He seems to have the endorsement of the Virginia Independent Greens (not to be confused with the national Green Party of Ralph Nader). Democrats are hopeful that he will do well--he is unlikely to drain any votes away from Perriello, and could do substantial damage to Hurt. “I would rather see Tom Perriello for two more years than the wrong conservative there for 20 years,” Clark is quoted as saying.

Of the six defeated candidates, the only one to publicly decline to endorse Hurt is Jim McKelvey. He is said to be close to Clark (his primary campaign headquarters was in Clark's offices) and has filed to create the "Take Our Country Back PAC," putting up his own money to seed it.

And the Lynchburg TEA Party has declined to endorse Hurt. Said Kurt Feigel, Vice Chair for Communications, "we cannot and will not endorse a candidate that does not align with our core principles."

However, another potential difficulty for Senator Hurt has been removed. Former Fifth District Representative Virgil Goode, who maintained neutrality throughout the Primary, has said he will come forward with a formal endorsement of Hurt soon.

(Dave Sagarin, June 11, 2010)