Robert Hurt, the incumbent Republican from the 5th Congressional District, will remain in office, having fended off three challengers in a landslide victory.
“I’m always very, very thankful to have the endorsement of the people I have represented,” Hurt said. “And the charge to go back to Washington for another two years.”
He said he would push to make it easier for “ordinary Virginians” to do business, and was closely watching the results, hoping the Republicans would take control of the U.S. Senate.
The Associated Press called the race before 8 p.m. Tuesday, less than an hour after the polls closed. In a district that spans from Pittsylvania County to the outer Northern Virginia exurbs, Hurt never faced a serious threat. Democrat Lawrence Gaughan pulled the largest share of opposing votes, but even his share totaled only 36 percent, compared to Hurt’s 61 percent, in the results that had been reported by late Tuesday, which represented about 98.7 percent of the district’s precincts.
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Libertarian Paul Jones and Independent Green Party candidate Ken Hildebrandt also challenged Hurt, ultimately failing to stand in the way of the Chatham-raised Republican winning a third term.
Hurt originally won his seat by defeating the incumbent Democrat Tom Perriello in a close 2010 midterm race. He won his first re-election handily over the Democratic candidate John Douglass and Hildebrandt. He had previously served as a state legislator, both in House of Delegates and state Senate.
Gaughan, a Charlottesville native who has worked as an actor and voter advocate, claimed Hurt has put the interests of big business ahead of those of the electorate during his time in Congress. He also pressured Hurt to take a position on the natural gas pipeline projects that are proposed in two separate areas of the vast district. While Gaughan steadfastly opposed them, Hurt declined to state an opinion, other than to say he wanted to be sure citizens had a say in the process.
Jones, the Libertarian candidate, also opposed the pipelines, and ran on the party’s platform of paring down government spending and operations. Hildebrandt put forth a campaign that hailed the potential effects of legalizing hemp and reforming the energy industry and tax structure.