Usually, the saying goes, "Three strikes and you're out."

For Bob FitzSimmonds (R) though, it's, "Three strikes and he's just getting started."

The chief deputy clerk of the Prince William County circuit court is preparing his fourth run at the 29th state Senate seat despite losing each election cycle since 1999. He fell to state Sen. Chuck Colgan (D-29th), the incumbent and dean of the General Assembly's upper chamber, in the 1999 and 2007 general elections and lost to former clerk of the circuit court Dave Mabie in the 2003 GOP primary.

Colgan, who would be 85 by Election Day 2011, said after the 2007 race that he would retire after completing his current term. That's drawn a potential challenge by Del. Jackson Miller (R-50th). Though he has not officially declared his candidacy, Miller publicly acknowledges that he is considering it.

Anyone who enters the GOP race for the seat based in western Prince William County will have to go through FitzSimmonds first as he said he is willing to wait until after redistricting in 2011 before selling his Victory Lakes house and buying a new one in a more rural part of western Prince William.

While Miller plans to hold off on his formal declaration of candidacy until after the new boundary lines are drawn, FitzSimmonds said that will not affect his candidacy. He said he intends to run for whatever seat takes up the western part of the county.

"If they put me in any crazy district, I'll just move," said FitzSimmonds.

After raising his family in Bristow for the last eight years, FitzSimmonds said moving plans have been in the works for a while since his children are nearly all grown (the youngest is 16) and his mother recently moved in with him and his wife. Redistricting, instead, "might impact when I move," he said.

Miller last month landed a seat on the House of Delegates redistricting subcommittee, which means he will play a role in "gerrymandering", otherwise known as drawing new boundary lines for state and federal districts. He will not be on the conference committee though, which means he will not have the final say on what happens to the 29th district boundaries.

Differences

If Miller takes the plunge, FitzSimmonds will run to his ideological right, particularly on taxes and size of government.

On taxes, FitzSimmonds said the difference between them is "He votes for them and I vote against them."

While FitzSimmonds does not hold elected office and thus cannot vote for or against taxes, he is a long-time anti-tax stalwart that's called for the General Assembly to slash its budget. The perennial challenger singled out Miller's vote for the transportation bill HB 3202 from 2007 that would have created a regional, unelected taxing authorities to raise new revenue for transportation had not key provisions of it been struck down by the state Supreme Court.

At the time, Miller said he did not like the taxing provision of the bill but that it achieved the majority of what he wanted, such as keeping cash raised locally in Northern Virginia in the area. FitzSimmonds said that although in the end the bill did not raise taxes, "The fact that someone shoots at you and misses you, does that not mean they didn't shoot at you?"

He added, "We need a good transportation. We do not need a transportation plan of some sort."

To him, funding such a bill includes no tax hike and prevents a "raid" of the transportation trust fund. Miller has been flexible on taxes, saying during a 2009 interview, "I have been modestly, carefully supportive of tax increases. I am adamantly opposed to state-wide tax increases where the money goes to the funding formula."

The two share ideologically conservative position when it comes to social issues, though they have stylistic separation. During his four sessions in Richmond, the former police officer Miller has hardly, if ever, introduced legislation on hot-button topics like abortion or gay rights. He prefers instead to focus on matters related to crime and justice, especially given that his district is right next store to Del. Bob Marshall (R-13th), perhaps the most outspoken social conservative in the General Assembly.

FitzSimmonds has said there's a "difference in terms of energy" regarding abortion between himself and Miller, with FitzSimmonds being more pro-active on the topic.

So while Miller would be considered the more "moderate" of the two, FitzSimmonds insisted he can work in a bipartisan manner, something which Miller did last year in order to pass a plurality of his legislation through the General Assembly with little opposition. FitzSimmonds recalled his time as a legislative aide in Richmond crafting a bill that sets guidelines for identifying kosher and halal foods. It ended up passing with unanimous support and included input from the Jewish and Islamic communities.

"I know some of the Democrat senators and the Democrat House members and I don't agree with them more than I ever did, but I don't think they're scoundrels," said FitzSimmonds. He later added, "There's people who are really committed and really believe in what they're doing."