The campaign season officially kicked off in Virginia yesterday, marking the start of a sprint to a high-stakes election that will determine who controls the General Assembly and possibly the front-runners in the race to replace outgoing Sen. John W. Warner.
While state lawmakers campaigned for another term, others — Rep. Thomas M. Davis III and former Gov. James S. Gilmore III, both Republicans, and former Gov. Mark Warner, a Democrat — were busy building momentum in possible bids for the seat the Republican senator announced last week he will leave when his term ends next year. The two Warners are not related.
With all 140 seats up for grabs in the General Assembly this fall, state lawmakers are focusing a lot of attention on Fairfax County, where Democrats hope to pick up three of the four seats they need to take control of the state Senate.
Election Day is Nov. 6.
The campaign season kicked off with a picnic yesterday at St. Mary’s church in Fairfax, where local lawmakers and their challengers appeared to meet voters.
Democrats hope a sour national atmosphere for Republicans, the war in Iraq and the slow Republican response to the public outcry over the state’s new “abuser fees” imposed on drivers will help them make inroads to the 57-to-40 seat majority Republicans hold in the House of Delegates. There are three independents in the House.
“Democrats may be on verge of a sweep,” said Fairfax County Board Chairman Gerald E. Connolly, a Democrat. “There are three [Republican] state Senate seats at risk here in Fairfax. It is a great opportunity, given the current climate.”
Republicans tout the positive aspects of the landmark multibillion-dollar transportation plan they passed earlier this year and recently rolled out a series of proposals aimed at curbing illegal immigration.
State Sen. Kenneth T. Cuccinelli II, Fairfax County Republican, who publicly criticized President Bush’s handling of illegal aliens, said yesterday the issue crosses party lines. He said the Republican approach will help woo independent and some centrist-minded Democratic voters in Northern Virginia.
“There is a new phenomenon where you have another group of single-issue voters,” he said. “People want to fight back.”
State Sen. Jeannemarie Devolites Davis, one of the targeted Fairfax County Republicans, and her congressman husband greeted potential voters at the picnic.
Mrs. Devolites Davis, who is being challenged by former Delegate J. Chapman Petersen, said yesterday her record reflects her constituency even though it has treaded Democratic.
“People know me as Jeannemarie, not Jeannemarie the Republican,” she said.
She backed a proposal to tighten background checks for buyers at gun shows and supported a plan forbidding state employment discrimination based on sexual orientation.
She also is quick to note she was part of the small group of Republican lawmakers who hashed out a transportation deal this year after a long-running feud between anti-tax conservatives in the House and centrists in the Senate.
“The transportation bill was critical, and no one else had carried a bill through the legislature in 20 years,” she said.
The party that controls the Senate next year will team up with the gubernatorial and House winners in 2009 to draw the congressional map that will outline the political landscape for 10 years starting in 2011.
“If we lose control of the state Senate, then we lose control of redistricting,” Mrs. Devolites Davis said. “It is very important and determines a lot 10 years after that.”
While Mr. Davis supported his wife in Northern Virginia, Mr. Gilmore and Mark Warner yesterday made appearances in Buena Vista, Va., where lawmakers annually kick off the campaign season on Labor Day. Mr. Gilmore addressed a crowd at a Republican-organized breakfast, while Mr. Warner jogged around the traditional parade route, a staple of state politics held in Shenandoah Valley.
The intraparty angling for U.S. Senate between conservative Republicans and centrists began shortly after John W. Warner”s retirement announcement, when Morton C. Blackwell, Virginia’s Republican National Committeeman, sent a letter urging voters to support Mr. Gilmore.
Congressional sources close to Mr. Davis said he is running for the Senate.
Yesterday, Mr. Davis said the earliest he will make an official announcement will be November. “I don’t want to distract from the local races,” he said.
Some suggest Mr. Davis’ senatorial hopes depend on his wife’s re-election bid, following Democrat James H. Webb Jr.’s razor-thin victory last fall over Republican Sen. George Allen.
“I think it’s important [that Mrs. Devolites Davis wins] because part of Tom’s case is the electability that he brings to the race and his strong base in Northern Virginia,” Mr. Connolly said.
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