Senator Jim Webb's (D) decision not to run for re-election next year has potentially created openings for three local officials to make a run for his seat.

That list includes Prince William Board of County Supervisors Chairman Corey Stewart (R), state Del. Bob Marshall (R-13th) and U.S. Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-11th).

Stewart has been the most open about running for office but is refraining from jumping into the race for two predominant reasons. First, he is concentrating on his run for re-election as chairman of the county board. A big win in November could improve his standing among Republicans who want an alternative to the GOP frontrunner, former Sen. George Allen (R).

Allen, who also served one term each as a congressman and governor during the 1990s, lost his re-election run in 2006 against Webb in the race that flipped control of the U.S. Senate from Republican to Democrat.

Allen is aligning himself closer to the Tea Party movement this time around as he already faces a primary challenge from one declared candidate, Virginia Tea Party Patriots Federation co-founder Jamie Radtke (R).

The second most important factor for Stewart is whether Radtke shows that she can raise enough money to be competitive with Allen in the primary one-on-one and whether she has coalesced conservatives throughout the commonwealth to back her candidacy. She and Stewart both confirmed separately that they have spoken to each other about the need for there to be only one alternative to Allen who is more conservative than him.

Even though Allen has a reputation as being a conservative, those upset with his Senate record are picking at his four votes to raise the national debt ceiling and a host of spending items.

As for Marshall, when first reached for reaction when Webb announced his decision on Feb. 9, he had not yet heard the news.

"Oh. Well, I guess it makes it more interesting," he said.

Marshall reiterated that Webb's decision would not be a factor in his own decision to run, something he will decide to do after the General Assembly's session concludes for the year.

He instead is basing his choice on whether or not the GOP field adequately addresses issues important to social conservatives, particularly abortion and restricting gay rights, such as re-instating Don't Ask, Don't Tell into the military's service code. However, he added that Webb's exit could mean that "you may find even more people deciding to enter this race."

Marshall did go out of his way to praise Webb in one regard, however.

"He did one good thing I liked, which was to help the veterans," Marshall said, also thanking Webb for his service in Vietnam.

Connolly is deferring any decision-making of his own until Democratic National Committee Chairman Tim Kaine decides what he wants to do. The former Virginia governor received praise from Democrats this past weekend at the state party's annual Jefferson-Jackson fundraising dinner in Kaine's home city of Richmond.

Kaine formerly served as a city council member and mayor of Richmond before being elected lieutenant governor in 2001. He won the governorship in 2005 and was tapped by Pres. Barack Obama to lead the DNC starting in 2009, Kaine's last full year as governor.

If Kaine decides not to run, a lot of attention is being paid to former Rep. Tom Perriello (D). He narrowly lost re-election last year against former state Sen. Robert Hurt (R) in the conservative-leaning 5th district that runs from Charlottesville in the north to the North Carolina border across Southside.

Perriello and Connolly are both encouraging Kaine to run. However, if he does not, either could emerge as a strong contender for the seat. Unlike Perriello, Connolly would have to give up his seat in order to run at a time when redistricting may make it easier for him to win in 2012 by including more Democratic-friendly districts in order for Republicans in Richmond to include more GOP-heavy precincts in Rep. Frank Wolf's (R-10th) neighboring district.

Connolly, a former Fairfax County Board of Supervisors chairman, compared himself to Kaine while talking to a reporter from the Capitol Hill newspaper Politico over the weekend in Richmond.

"We absolutely need someone with local government experience, someone motivated by a strong sense of Catholic social justice, spent time as a missionary, Harvard educated, someone with a track record of winning elections in the most populous part of the state in Northern Virginia, someone who has been in Washington a few years but not too many years, and somebody who has been proud to stand with President Obama in support of health care reform for all Americans," Connolly said, according to the publication. "But I think that somebody should not have a mustache. We need somebody just like our beloved governor, Tim Kaine."