to find candidates and pull off a reasonable campaign - especially for an office of this nature.  Sure, it's physically possible, but that's just too little time to do it right.

I can see the appeal of trying to piggy back off of the upcoming election - but it would be much better to wait.

It's a crime that we can't pull of an election in 4 weeks. This is just another symptom of the craziness of our election system. Other countries pull off entire national parliamentary elections in 4 weeks with some frequency, but we couldn't even get the ballots printed in time.

We need legislation at the federal level establishing the minimum operational requirements for elections, from machines to printing the ballots to staffing. And we need to fund it fully.

Just MHO.

I was in London on business in early April of 2005 when Tony Blair called for general elections.  He asked the Queen to dissolve Parliament on April 6th and scheduled the election for May 5th.  I wondered at the time how in the world they could conduct national elections in such as short period.  One of the answers is that each party has a standing candidate in each parlimentary district of the House of Commons and each party has a "shadow" minister for each cabinet position.  BTW, you might find this amusing:  when Parliament is dissolved, each member of Parliament is physically locked out of their former offices and taken off the payroll until the new Parliament convenes.  Wouldn't it be interesting if we did that with our Congress every election cycle?  Probably wouldn't solve the Incumbency Problem, but it would be a good object lesson in humility once every two years.

It won't happen b/c absentee voting for the general election is in progress.

ready to run, then I think Kaine should wait.

When to have a special election for the 1st CD?
by: cvllelaw
Sun Oct 07, 2007 at 22:26:50 PM EDT
As a practical matter, there is no time to have this vacancy considered on the November ballot.  And the election would almost have to be at least 30 days after November 6, to allow Registrars in the First Congressional District to re-organize.  Look for a special election in the second week of December.

district for the Democrats. It didn't vote for Kaine or Webb. For a Democrat to win the key is to do very win in the Caroline, Fredricksburg City, Hampton City, Newport News City, Prince William, and Westmoreland county parts of the district. But it includes the more Republican precincts in those heavily Democratic towns. Although I do agree that the Democrat should run a candidate aggressively here, I don't expect a victory unfortunately.

I tried to find even one Democrat representing part of the 1st District in the General Assembly, and I couldn't find any. and county-level officeholders aren't going to have much of a base to start off with, since the district includes about 20 counties/cities.

I can't think of an elected Republican contender with the base to build a strong candidacy in the district due to the way so many different cities are drawn into the sprawling first district.  It would still be a tough district to win in and would favor the Republican, but at least the Republican has to overcome the same hurdle the Democrat does in a special election.

The district has a lot of difficulties.  First, it's about 45% in the Hampton Roads media market, 40% in the DC media market, and 15% in the Richmond media market.  Already that makes a campaign difficult because even a state delegate or senator is going to be well known only in his section of the district.  A county level official is even worse off.

It's also a fast growing district.  Fourth in the number of voters that came out in 2006 after Northern Virginia's 10th and 11th and the 7th, which has a lot of the Richmond suburbs.  The entire 1st is essentially a collection of suburbs with no real core.

There has got to be a better candidate to run than Shawn O'Donnell.  I'm sure he did his best, but I think that in a district where Gore and Kerry got 39%, and Webb got 44%, and the Vote No on the marriage amendment got 40%, we should expect better than 35%.

In order to win, the Democrat should either have high name ID in either the Fredericksburg end or the Peninsula end, run a good ground game, and hope that low voter turnout hurts the GOP more than Democrats. 

The district is less Republican than the Massachusetts 5th is Democratic, and the GOP there is making a good effort at winning the seat in a special election. 

I think there's some great candidates in the 1st. Unfortunately, they're tied up in local elections!

Take, for instance, John Miller. He's an *excellent* candidate for that seat, but right now, we need him to keep the wolves at bay, and by wolves I mean Tricia Stall.

if you're a Democrat.

Jim Webb would have done better there, much better I think if his ground game had been stronger. All the money that Webb eventually raised went into expensive commercials to the profound neglect of local / grassroots efforts state-wide.

While yard signs and Poster boards might only help marginally (effecting 1%-3% of the vote) .... the no-show psychology (disconnected) for local party operatives hurt quite a bit .... and could have easily cost the election. Scary.

As a matter of fact though .... The Stafford and Fredericksburg DEMS worked mightly and made up the difference for Jim Webb. Shawn O'Donnel just didn't get enough name recognition to overcome a popular incumbant.

Personally I would not hold an election for this seat until 2008. Like November 2008 ... and I would really vet / recruit the would be Democratic party candidate. It's a rare opportunity, yes but a challenge. Joanne Davis had a tougher race within her own party for the position originally ... when she won the nomination she ran un-opposed for the congressional seat.

Is Kaine required to hold the election within a certain amount of time? Can he appoint someone and wait until Nov '08?

There is no requirement on when he must hold the election.  I have seen conflicting reports though on when exactly a special election can be held.  It must be a Tuesday, that is consistent.  It cannot be on a primary.  It can be on a general election.  The conflict is some sources are reporting that it cannot be within 30 days of a primary or general election, others saying within 60 days of a primary or general election. 

Kaine cannot appoint someone to fill the seat.