A mixed-bag of endorsements for local legislative candidates appears in today’s RTD.

Lightly or unchallenged incumbents get the paper’s nod, though there is not a little buttering-up of folks like Jennifer McClellan, Kirk Cox and Ryan McDougal.

More interesting is the paper’s endorsement of incumbent Katherine Waddell over former Richmond city council president Manoli Loupassi. His name isn’t even mentioned. Conversely, the paper does manage to take a swipe at the former incumbent, Brad Marrs, by saying that Waddell’s “…responsiveness and attention to constituents’ concerns are welcome and refreshing.
It seems the paper still has it in for ol’ Brad, for some reason.

Also,, the RTD picks up on something a friend brought to my attention a couple of weeks back, namely, the 11th Senate District race between incumbent Steve Martin, former Delegate Alexander McMurtrie and independents Roger Habeck and Hank Cook. Some people wonder if this might just be a sleeper race where Republicans could stumble. I’m still not convinced, but the paper’s position raises a couple doubts on the outcome:

Habeck presents an intriguing possibility: He has mounted a strong campaign, and he could serve with distinction. Yet the partisan makeup of Chesterfield points toward another Martin victory. As we noted as far back as 1999, Martin wins in Chesterfield because he is ideologically and temperamentally in tune with the county’s citizens. Voters should follow their consciences in this race.

I still think Martin wins. But if the winds lashing the GOP elsewhere gather even more force, the 11th might just be one to watch.