The 2016 election is about to heat up after Labor Day, but Republicans in Virginia are already thinking ahead to 2017 and beyond.
Over the weekend, Republicans in Virginia decided that they were going to choose their next candidate for governor using a primary rather than a convention.
Republican analyst Dan Scandling says that could be beneficial to the party, especially in the event Hillary Clinton is elected president and Tim Kaine’s Senate seat is vacated leading to a special election next year.
“You’ll have a ticket next year of a Senate candidate, probably Ken Cuccinelli, and a gubernatorial candidate, right now you’d have to think its Ed Gillespie, which is a dream team. The Democrats can’t beat that. There’s just no way they can’t beat that."
After Republicans decided on selecting their candidate for governor with a convention rather than a primary, state Senator Frank Wagner expressed an interest in running in the race. Quentin Kidd at Christopher Newport University says Wagner may be thinking a few steps down the chess board.
“In 2018 it’s going to be a free-for-all, so Frank Wagner may be looking at bigger fish than just this Republican primary race for the governor. He may be looking at something like a U.S. Senate seat."
Virginia Republicans have a love-hate relationship with conventions. The last time they tried using a convention, Democrats took control of every statewide office in Virginia. So now they’re moving back to using a primary, which has been the traditional choice of the moderate wing of the party.
