6th District Republicans prepare for Harrisonburg convention

The nomination fight that Bob Goodlatte set in motion last November will play out Saturday in Harrisonburg.

Eight candidates will compete for the GOP nomination at the 6th District Convention.

They have sparred over the rules for Saturday's convention at James Madison University, and WDBJ7 Political Analyst Bob Denton says the disputes have highlighted divisions within the Republican Party.

"There are certainly three kind of segments: those we used to kind of call the real conservative, perhaps the tea party. Then there's the establishment, whatever that means. And then there are those who are kind of in the middle in terms of more traditional Republicans," Denton told us. "And so you see three groups... trying to take control of the nomination process."

Ben Cline and Cynthia Dunbar are considered the front-runners, but Mike Desjadon, Chaz Haywood, Ed Justo, Kathryn Lewis, Elliot Pope and Douglas Wright aren't conceding. And Denton says the number of candidates adds to the uncertainty.

"The convention can be either the most predictable, or unpredictable," Denton said, "and in the category of one to ten, I would say this is probably a good eight, being unpredictable at this point."

The 6th District Republican Convention begins at 10am Saturday.

Democrats will choose their nominee in a primary on June 12th.