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Door opens for former Rep. Artur Davis to run for congress in Virginia

Former Alabama Congressman Artur Davis
Former Alabama Congressman Artur Davis

WASHINGTON – On Tuesday, Rep. Frank Wolf, R-Va., announced he would not be seeking reelection for in 2014 for his 10th congressional district of Virginia seat.

“I have decided not to seek re-election to the U.S. Congress in 2014,” Wolf said in a statement on Tuesday afternoon. “It has been an honor to serve the people of northern Virginia and the Shenandoah Valley.  I thank my constituents for giving me the privilege of representing them in Congress for 34 years.”

This could be the long-awaited opening for former Rep. Artur Davis, who represented Alabama’s 7th congressional district as a Democrat, but swapped parties last year to become a Republican.

Other potential candidates reportedly eyeing the seat are Democrat Fairfax County Supervisor John Foust and Republicans State Del. Barbara Comstock and State Sen. Jill Holtzman Vogel.

Earlier this year, Davis commissioned a poll in Virginia’s 10th congressional district that showed no obvious front-runner among a handful of potential Republican candidates that included Davis, Vogel and Comstock.

Since Davis’ failed bid for the Alabama Democratic gubernatorial nomination, the former Alabama congressman has not sought public office, although he did speak at the 2012 Republican National Convention in Tampa, Fla.

Davis’ bid to be elected to Congress in two different states would be something that hasn’t been accomplished since Republican Texas-turned-New Mexico Rep. Ed Foreman did it in the late 1960s.


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