"With only three weeks remaining before the filing deadline, it is looking increasingly unlikely that Charlottesville Republicans will field a City Council candidate.

Local Republican leaders are still trying to convince several residents to jump into the race, but are resigned to the possibility that they will not have a name on the Nov. 6 ballot.

Republicans acknowledge it is a daunting task to run for office under their party banner in a city as blue as Charlottesville. Instead of offering up an ill-prepared candidate this year, Republicans are focusing their efforts on grooming a crop of challengers to make a serious run at the next council elections in 2009.

“People are a little reluctant to stick their foot in at this point and I don’t want to push people into doing something that’s premature,” said Charles Weber, chairman of the Charlottesville Republican Committee.

But viewing 2007 as a rebuilding year - in essence writing off the season in order to develop young talent - has its repercussions. Some fear that not having a Republican in the race for the first time in at least 25 years may stifle discourse in the community and make the Democratic Party, which has a monopoly on the council, complacent.

Even Democratic officials say they would like to see a Republican run.

“It would be healthy for our party and our democracy to have a good, tough competition in November,” said Russ Linden, co-chairman of the Charlottesville Democratic Committee.

“Having a strong Republican running makes Democrats smarter and is more reflective of the community.”

Democrats will pick three nominees for council during a June 2 nominating convention. The five Democrats running are Mayor David Brown, Holly Edwards, Satyendra S. Huja, Jennifer McKeever and Linda Seaman.

Peter Kleeman is gathering signatures to run as an independent, but has yet to decide whether he will enter the race.

The lack of a history of winning has hampered recruitment efforts, Republi-cans said. Rob Schilling is the only Republican to be elected since the late 1980s, and he squeaked to victory by 84 votes in 2002 thanks to a divided Democratic ticket.

It takes a tremendous investment of time, money and resources to make a bid for elected office, and some qualified Republicans are reluctant to make those sacrifices in such a challenging electoral environment. John Pfaltz, who ran unsuccessfully for the council in 2000 as a Republican, calls this a “sign of realism.”

“The conclusion was that in this town, the knee-jerk, anti-Republican sentiment is just so strong,” he said, explaining why no resident has stepped forward to seek the Republican nomination.

There was a thought that this year might be different. With concern growing over escalating tax bills, some believed that residents would be more amenable to a Republican candidate preaching the need for the city to exert greater fiscal discipline.

But Weber is not convinced that higher tax bills are enough to get residents to vote for a Republican, especially in a time of “Bush fatigue.”

“We had the same tax issues last year and Rob was soundly defeated,” Weber said.

What is needed, he said, is not just someone with solid Republican credentials, but a fresh candidate who is conversant with the issues and has built up name recognition in the community." (Seth Rosen, The Daily Progress, May 22, 2007)