The Home Page of this website now boasts two listings for the Democratic nomination to oppose Robert Hurt next November. Peyton Williams, who lives in Charlottesville, announced a month ago.

Brig. Gen. John Douglass (USAF Ret.) has been running since last May in what was then the 10th CD, to replace the stalwart and very conservative Republican Frank Wolf.

Douglass, who is 70, lives in Hume, Fauquier County, near I-66. The Tenth of old ran from the D.C. suburbs past Winchester to the West Virginia line, and Douglass sat near the middle of it. By the end of 2011, he had raised over $300,000 and had about $170,000 left in the till. He was well-regarded by Democrats in the District, and was unopposed for the nomination.

But with redistricting, his farm has been assimilated into the newly-configured Fifth. And the Tenth lost some of its more-Democratic precincts. So he has decided to continue his run for Congress, but now in his new District. A formal announcement has not yet been made, but is expected in early March.

Douglass had a 30 year career in the Air Force, including staff service to the National Security Council under President Reagan, and was an assistant Navy secretary under Bill Clinton in the mid-'90's. He was most recently the head of the Aerospace Industries Association of America, a lobbying organization.

Fifth District Democrats will hold a convention May 19th at Nelson County HS, Lovingston, to select a candidate.

(Dave Sagarin, February 27, 2012)