From: NBC29 on August 11, 2010

The race for the 5th District congressional seat came to Albemarle County Wednesday afternoon as two of the three men who want the job sat down for a candidate's forum put on by the Senior Statesmen of Virginia.

Republican Robert Hurt declined the invitation to speak at the forum, the first time a candidate has not appeared since the debates began in 1996. The public discussion between incumbent Tom Perriello and his independent challenger Jeff Clark went on as planned, however, as both candidates made sure to point out Hurt's absence to the crowd.

It all started with a friendly handshake but quickly turned into back and forth conversations about a number of big issues, spanning from foreign wars to federal debt. Clark stayed true to his tea party roots, stressing hands-off government and simplifying legislation.

"If we look at the Constitution and the first ten amendments, they were very concise and short. We have a 2000 page health care bill, ladies and gentlemen," said Clark. "What's happening is, we're creeping down that road towards some type of European socialist democracy." 

Perriello defended his controversial votes on health care, stimulus money and cap and trade and talked up keeping jobs in America's economy.

 August 9, 2010--Ivy, VA--State Senator Robert Hurt has pledged to Washington special interest groups to oppose an aid package that will save 439 teacher jobs in the 5th district. He has also discussed his desire to abolish the Department of Education, even recently pledging to formal rival Jim McKelvey to "cut or eliminate funding to government agencies," such as the Department of Education. 

From: The Lynchburg News & Advance on August 8, 2010

Fifth District Voters Should Hear All Hopefuls

Only if you’ve been living beneath a rock for the past 18 months would you not know there’s acongressional election coming up this November.

The 2010 midterm elections, in which all 435 members of the House of Representatives and a third of the U.S. senators are up for re-election, are shaping up to be the most important in a generation. And one of the marque races is right here in Central and Southside Virginia in the Fifth Congressional District, pitting freshman Rep. Tom Perriello, a Democrat, against two challengers, state Sen. Robert Hurt, a Republican, and Jeff Clark, a Danville businessman and independent.

In 2008, Perriello knocked off incumbent Rep. Virgil Goode, a Republican, by fewer than 800 votes in one of that year’s closest elections. As a result, he’s got a big, red bulls-eye painted on his back as one of the most endangered members of Congress facing re-election. Interest in the contest, both in the district and nationally, has been intense.

Click here to read the full article.

August 5, 2010--Jessica Barba, spokeswoman for the Perriello campaign, issued the following statement in response to the news that Jim McKelvey has endorsed Robert Hurt on the basis of 12 pledges: 

"First, Senator Hurt pledged away his independence to Washington corporate interest groups in order to become the lobbyists’ candidate. Now, Jim McKelvey reveals a dozen more secret promises that this career politician made in backrooms, including a promise to abolish the Department of Education and vote against bills that fund our military and veterans. Who knows what else he'll be pledging tonight in the secret Tea Party meeting? We won't know -- because instead of talking straight to voters in a televised debate, Robert Hurt favors back-room deals, as all career politicians do."