Wednesday, March 22, 2006
Pope: Not Running For 1st District Seat
As I predicted here long ago, Anne Pope will not run for Congress in 2006, choosing to stay in her capacity as Co-Chair of the Appalachian Regional Commission instead of seeking the 1st District seat being vacated by the retiring Bill Jenkins.
Anne - whether she remembers it or not - was influential in my entry into the political arena, even when I was supporting Jenkins for Congress as her opposition in 1996. We had a frank talk about the duties of citizens to serve their government, and her words have stuck with me over the past decade.
This development isn't surprising at all. What is surprising is that the list of those who aren't running - including Pope, Ron Ramsey, and myself - seems to be growing faster than the list of candidates. David Davis, Vance Cheek, and Richard Venable have announced their candidacies, and I have heard that former Johnson City Mayors Pete Paduch and Bill Breeding, as well as former Jenkins Chief of Staff Jeff Anderson, may enter the race within the next week. All candidates face the upcoming April 6th deadline for qualifying petitions, so the field will be set soon. If things go as planned, I should have an endorsement in this race - as well as many others - in the near future.
Anne - whether she remembers it or not - was influential in my entry into the political arena, even when I was supporting Jenkins for Congress as her opposition in 1996. We had a frank talk about the duties of citizens to serve their government, and her words have stuck with me over the past decade.
This development isn't surprising at all. What is surprising is that the list of those who aren't running - including Pope, Ron Ramsey, and myself - seems to be growing faster than the list of candidates. David Davis, Vance Cheek, and Richard Venable have announced their candidacies, and I have heard that former Johnson City Mayors Pete Paduch and Bill Breeding, as well as former Jenkins Chief of Staff Jeff Anderson, may enter the race within the next week. All candidates face the upcoming April 6th deadline for qualifying petitions, so the field will be set soon. If things go as planned, I should have an endorsement in this race - as well as many others - in the near future.
Permalink posted by Rob Huddleston @ 9:32 AM 
