Bob Marshall Enters U.S. Senate Race

Del. Bob Marshall (R-13), who until redistricting represented parts of Loudoun, announced Monday his candidacy for the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate.

Currently several candidates have entered the race to replace Sen. Jim Webb (D), who decided not to seek a second term on the Hill, including two Democrats, an Independent and a half dozen Republicans. The GOP nomination campaign appears to be the most challenging, but overall pundits have dubbed Democrat Tim Kaine and Republican George Allen as the likely nominees for the fall election.

The current slate includes:

• George Allen (R)
• Kevin Chisholm (I)
• Tim Donner (R)
• E.W. Jackson Sr. (R)
• Tim Kaine (D)
• Bob Marshall (R)
• David McCormick (R)
• Julien Modica (D)
• Jamie Radtke (R)

Marshall made his announcement Jan. 16, claiming he’s got the credentials to show he can defeat former governor and presumed Democratic nominee Tim Kaine.

“I can beat Tim Kaine in the Nov. 6 general election,” Marshall said in a press release. “I already have a ‘can do’ record of challenging Tim Kaine and winning in the public arena on major economic and social issues, and I can do it again.”

Voters have elected the Marshall 11 times to the House of Delegates and he has proven one of its most conservative members. Marshall wrote the amendment to the Virginia Constitution prohibiting same-sex marriage, which was ratified in 2006, and the Virginia Health Care Freedom Act of 2010, the basis of Virginia’s federal court challenge of the federal health-care law.

He is also the sponsor of the current House Bill 1, which would impart the rights of "personhood" to a human embryo at the moment of conception. Marshall said in a statement last month that his bill creates "a civil cause of action for the wrongful death of an unborn child." He said the measure provides "a legal remedy for parents whose beloved unborn baby is killed by the negligent or criminal act" of a third party.

In 2008, Marshall posed a serious challenge to another former governor, James S. Gilmore, losing the nomination by less than 1 percentage point. Gilmore went on to lose to Mark Warner.

State Sen. Dick Black (R-13), another staunch conservative in the Virginia General Assembly, will serve as chairman of Marshall’s campaign.

“Del. Bob Marshall was my seatmate for eight years in the House of Delegates, and he has a remarkable record of legislative achievement,” Black said in a release from the campaign.

Marshall said he believes he’s a more appealing candidate to Virginia conservatives than Allen, pointing to a string of examples of his work as a delegate.