Paul C. Harris, the first black Republican elected to the Virginia legislature since reconstruction, told me today that Sen. Ken Cuccinelli's decision to run for attorney general next year influences his potential bid only "in a sense that I tend to favor competition."

Mr. Harris, who celebrated his 44th birthday yesterday, repeated: "I like competition. I think for the party competition is healthy. I hope to make a decision to run by the end of the month."

As reported in my story today, Cuccinelli became the first Republican to enter the race next year, announcing his intentions at a news conference yesterday at the Fairfax government center.

Harris, a lawyer raised by a single mother in a Charlottesville housing project, became the first black Republican elected to the Virginia legislature in more than a century when he won the seat once held by Thomas Jefferson in 1997.

He is a graduate of Hampton University, where he was president of the student body and an Army ROTC member, and graduated from George Washington University's law school in 1995. Mr. Harris served in the Albemarle County seat from 1998 to 2001.

Lately, as chairman of the Virginia chapter of Americans for Prosperity, Harris has been traveling the state to promote entrepreneurship and free enterprise.

Though he considers Cuccinelli "a strong candidate," Harris said he still has the "itch" to work in public service that started when he was 12.

"The inch is really to be a servant leader," he said.

"I am carefully weighing the possibility of running for attorney general and continue to receive strong encouragement from party leaders and activists around the state," he said.

Asked which party leaders, he answered, "The names would be instantly recognized."

It is debatable whether they are as recognizable as his middle name: Clinton.