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Another Republican is joining the race for the Senate seat being vacated by Robert Hurt, R-Chatham, the congressman-elect in the 5th District.

Pittsylvania County Republican Chairwoman Brenda Bowman will announce her candidacy Tuesday morning in Chatham, according to an e-mail she sent to family and friends this evening and shared with The Roanoke Times.

As noted earlier, Bill Stanley and Franklin County and Fred Shanks of Danville already have announced their candidacies. Bowman will announce her candidacy on the steps of the Pittsylvania County Courthouse, the same site that Hurt chose for his victory speech last Tuesday night. She will take a leave of absence as Pittsylvania GOP committee chairwoman while she is a candidate.

Here’s Bowman’s e-mail announcing her plans:

Dear friend:  

I have news that I hope will be as exciting to you as it is to me and my family.  Tomorrow (Tuesday) Nov. 9, at 11:00 a.m., I will announce my bid to seek the Republican nomination for the soon to be vacant 19th District Senate Seat.  I hope that you will be able to join me for this announcement on the Courthouse steps in Chatham at 11:00 a.m.  I am humbly asking for your support and hope that you will forward this email to your family and friends and invite them to stand with me tomorrow morning.   

You know me and you know that I am hard worker for what I believe in.  I have spent many years as a grass roots volunteer for numerous Republican candidates, to include Congressman-Elect Robert Hurt, Delegate Don Merricks, Delegate Charles Poindexter and Delegate Danny Marshall.  I have worked in the Virginia General Assembly for six sessions so I have a first-hand understanding of the process.  I know most staff members in Richmond and they know me.  I do not have another job and I will be your full-time representative and available to work with you, the constituents, on a daily basis.   

I believe in the Republican Creed and live by those principles.  I am a common sense person and will listen to you. You already know that you can trust me.  The top priorities today are jobs and the economy.  I will focus to increase jobs in Virginia, especially in Southside.  I will strive to foster a friendly government environment, with less regulations and less taxes, so more people can be hired in the private sector.  We need to get small businesses going again with a competitive tax structure that allows them to grow and expand their business.  We cannot raise taxes in a down economy.  We need to make government as efficient as we can and focus on the core functions of government.   I have a first-hand knowledge of what our community business and economic development needs are and will work close with the economic development offices throughout the 19th Senate District.   

I will be taking a leave of absence as chair of the Pittsylvania County Republican Committee to avoid any conflict.  This was not on my radar screen until Tuesday night after Robert was elected.  My full focus has been on working to see that he was elected.  I was looking forward to some much needed rest after months of preparing for Tuesday’s election.  I was approached by many to consider running and after prayer and with full support of my family, I feel that I am qualified to represent you and am taking this leap of faith.  This has been a whirlwind but I am prepared to work hard in the next few weeks leading up to the nomination process.     

So again I ask for your support and hope to see you in Chatham tomorrow morning at 11:00 a.m.  

Brenda Bowman