After the death of Republican Congresswoman Jo Ann Davis on October 6, 2007, a special election was required to fill the vacancy for the remainder of the 110th United States Congress. Governor Tim Kaine announced that the election would occur on December 11, 2007. The Republican and Democratic candidates were selected by political conventions on November 10, 2007. Republican state delegate Rob Wittman was elected, defeating Democratic nominee Philip Forgit and independent candidate Lucky Narain.Wittman wins 1st Congressional District Election WVEC December 11, 2007. Retrieved December 11, 2007
Candidates Democratic Democrats nominated Iraq War veteran and former teacher Philip Forgit over retired United States Navy Captain Ted Hontz by a 106–91 convention vote. The Democratic convention was held in Williamsburg, Virginia. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee did not invest large amounts of money into the campaign, opting instead to fund Robin Weirauch's campaign in a special congressional election in Ohio.
Republican After five ballots, Republicans chose state delegate Rob Wittman as their nominee when Paul Jost withdrew before the sixth ballot could be announced. The Republican convention was held at Caroline High School in Caroline County, Virginia. The Republican convention drew a wide variety of candidates, including former State Delegate Dick Black; former Republican Party official Jim Bowden; Sherwood Bowditch, the Director of the Virginia Alliance of Boys and Girls Clubs; David Caprara, an activist; retired FBI agent David Corderman; Chuck Davis, the widower of late Congresswoman Davis; businessman Paul Jost, attorney Kevin O'Neill, and businessman Rob Quartel.
Independent Lucky Narain, a former Peace Corps volunteer, Army Reservist, and grant writer from Yorktown, filed the necessary petitions to be placed on the ballot as an independent candidate. He criticized Wittman for supporting a transportation tax increase despite having signed an anti-tax pledge; Wittman claimed that he had not signed that particular pledge.
General election results
By county and independent city Locality Rob WittmanRepublican Philip ForgitDemocratic All others Margin Total votes cast # % # % # % # % Caroline (part) 683 73.4% 245 26.3% 3 0.3% 438 47.1% 931 Essex 668 71.8% 256 27.5% 7 0.8% 412 44.3% 931 Fauquier (part) 1,341 67.9% 616 31.2% 17 0.9% 725 36.7% 1,974 Fredericksburg 693 44.6% 845 54.3% 17 1.1% -152 9.7% 1,555 Gloucester 2,717 61.7% 1,562 35.5% 125 2.8% 1,155 26.2% 4,404 Hampton (part) 970 44.1% 1,171 53.3% 57 2.6% -201 -9.2% 2,198 James City 5,454 50.4% 5,181 47.9% 181 1.7% 273 2.5% 10,816 King and Queen 386 58.3% 272 41.1% 4 0.6% 114 17.2% 662 King George 1,359 70.5% 544 28.2% 24 1.3% 815 42.3% 1,927 King William 759 64.8% 397 33.9% 15 1.3% 362 30.9% 1,171 Lancaster 1,916 74.5% 644 25.0% 12 0.4% 1,272 49.5% 2,572 Mathews 1,041 60.9% 648 37.9% 20 1.2% 393 23.0% 1,709 Middlesex 1,184 66.8% 566 31.9% 922 1.3% 618 34.9% 1,772 Newport News (part) 3,811 56.4% 2,772 41.0% 180 2.7% 1,039 15.4% 6,763 Northumberland 1,837 75.8% 571 23.5% 17 0.7% 1,266 52.3% 2,425 Poquoson 1,231 67.4% 541 29.6% 55 3.0% 690 37.8% 1,827 Prince William (part) 584 55.0% 457 43.1% 20 1.9% 127 11.9% 1,061 Richmond County 879 85.0% 149 14.4% 6 0.6% 730 70.6% 1,034 Spotsylvania (part) 3,711 66.9% 1,781 32.1% 51 0.9% 1,930 34.8% 5,543 Stafford 4,503 65.9% 2,233 32.7% 92 1.4% 2,270 33.2% 6,828 Westmoreland 1,647 78.5% 439 20.9% 13 0.6% 1,208 67.6% 2,099 Williamsburg 626 36.0% 1,079 62.0% 35 2.1% -453 -26.0% 1,740 York 4,772 56.5% 3,313 39.3% 355 4.2% 1,459 17.2% 8,440Totals42,77260.8%26,28237.3%1,3281.9%16,49023.5%70,382
See also List of special elections to the United States House of Representatives
References