Democrats

VA Senator Webb Won’t Run

Moderate Dem faced a tough re-election race.

Another Democrat bites the dust. Jim Webb, the Virginian and veteran who served in the Reagan administration and later switched parties to run for Senate, won’t run for re-election in 2012. It was rumored for weeks that Webb was reluctant to run again, and the prospect of a rematch against former Sen. George Allen (R-VA), whom Webb defeated in 2006 and who plans to run for his old seat, meant he’d have a tough campaign. The loss of the centrist is a blow for Democrats, who made serious inroads into Virginia in 2006 and 2008 but suffered during the midterm elections. It’s believed that Tim Kaine, a former governor who now leads the Democratic National Committee, might be on deck to run.