Two separate rumors are spreading through Virginia politics in this early morning.
First, the Washington Post reports that sources close to Congressman Tom Davis are saying that he will not seek the Republican nomination for John Warner’s Senate seat in 2008:
Rep. Thomas M. Davis III will not make a run for the U.S. Senate next year, in part because of what he sees as the Republican Party’s increasingly narrow focus on candidates who pass conservative litmus tests on taxes and abortion, several people close to his office said yesterday.
Davis (R-Va.), who has been preparing for a Senate bid for years, won’t rule out a future run, such as a challenge to James Webb (D-Va.) in 2012, the sources said. He also will consider running for reelection to his House seat next year.
But to try to replace Sen. John W. Warner (R), who will retire at the end of next year, at a time when Davis considers Democrats to be strong and Republicans in disarray — particularly in Virginia — would be counterproductive, they said.
Reached by telephone yesterday, Davis, 58, said he would reveal his intentions at a news conference this morning. He said he plans to talk about the political environment in the nation and the state but offered no details.
“I’m going to have a wide-ranging conversation,” Davis said. “[Today] won’t be the end of everything.”
Which leads to the question — what will it be the end of exactly ? And, our second rumor, which has The Hill reporting that Tom Davis may be just a day away from retiring from Congress altogether:
Veteran Rep. Tom Davis (R-Va.), who has been seen as a leading candidate to replace retiring Sen. John Warner (R) in 2008, may now be just a day away from announcing his own retirement from Congress.
If that happens, it would open the 11th Congressional District up for a probably Democratic pickup in 2008.
