The eighth congressional district of Virginia, which Rep. Jim Moran (D) has represented since 1991, is considered one of the safest Democratic seats in the House of Representatives.
This year, however, with political discontent over the Democratic health care reform effort nearing the boiling point, Republicans see an opportunity to, at the very least, force Democrats to devote more resources than usual to re-electing Moran, at a time when they can least afford it.
Stanford Parris, a Republican who represented the eighth district of Virginia in congress for most of the 1980s, has died from heart disease at the age of 80.
Parris was an Air Force veteran. He was rescued after the jet he was piloting was shot down over North Korea.
Virginia’s eighth congressional district, which includes Arlington, has been a decidedly elusive target for Republicans for nearly two decades.
The first George Bush was president the last time a Republican held the seat. The last three presidential elections have been laughably lopsided in favor of Democrats. President Obama carried the district by a margin of 69 percent to 30 percent over Sen. John McCain, whose own national campaign headquarters was based in Arlington.
Arlington’s U.S. Rep. Jim Moran (D-VA) has issued a statement on the Senate filibuster that has resulted in 2,000 Department of Transportation employees being furloughed today. The furloughs have forced a number of federally-funded road construction projects, including the George Washington Parkway Humpback Bridge project, to temporarily shut down.
Here’s Rep. Moran’s statement:
