Volatile Scottsville District Supervisor, Mike Pruitt, has ended his previously fait-accompli bid for Virginia’s Fifth Congressional District Democrat nomination.
Following former Fifth District Congressman Tom Perriello’s late and surprising entry into the race—and a quiet exodus of early endorsers—Pruitt had little choice.
In a December 11 email to supporters, Pruitt had insisted he was in-it-to-win-it:
As new names enter the race for VA05, one thing is clear: voters are ready to oust incumbent Republican John McGuire. Generating formidable grassroots momentum since July, Navy veteran, civil rights attorney, and Scottsville Supervisor on the Albemarle County Board of Supervisors Mike Pruitt is well positioned to do just that.
On January 29, the Schilling Show editorialized that the only path-out of his newly untenable Congressional bid was for Pruitt to cash-out and throw his support to Perriello:
Pruitt would be wise to drop-out for a number of reasons:
To avoid an embarrassing blow-out loss
To conserve Democrat resources (campaign expenditures)
To show respect to Perriello and the Democrat establishment
But mostly, Pruitt should step-out of this race in order to bring relief to his early endorsers—presently in a very uncomfortable position—who would like to be free to openly support Tom Perriello for the Fifth District nomination.
A February 11 media release from the Pruitt campaign acknowledged the inevitable and ceded the race to Perriello:
I’m a fighter. I joined this race knowing I’d face a hard, uphill battle. But with the newly publicized district maps, I now know that such a fight will do more harm than good. Just as I know Tom Perriello will put in the work to stand up for rural, working Virginians in Congress. Today I am ending my campaign and announcing that I will support him in that effort. I will also independently continue to advocate for the communities that both parties have left behind.
Pruitt’s pathetic attempt to blame the Democrats’ risky redistricting scheme for his epiphany and course-correction is laughable, at-best. The writing was on the wall.
Politics is a bloodsport: a lesson learned the hard way by Scottsville’s fledgling Supervisor. No matter the effort (or money in the bank), Pruitt could not out-Perriello the original Boy-Congressman and Soros minion, Tom Perriello.
