A look at the 2009 Democratic Primary

You’ve seen the signs hanging out on street corners around town for past few weeks. Perhaps you’ve seen their annoying bigger brothers on the television, the back-to-back-to-back campaign adverts that attempt to differentiate this particular older white guy from that other older white guy in the race for governor. Thankfully all of the hubbub will be over for a little while come Tuesday. Here is what you probably ought to know if you’d like to a part of the process…

June 8, 2009; 7:30 AM • by John Murden

The Democratic primary will be held on Tuesday, June 9th. The purpose of this election is to nominate political party candidates to be on the ballot in the November general election. Voters across the city will select candidates for Governor, Lieutenant Governor, and Richmond City Sheriff. Some voters will also be choosing a candidate for the Sixty-Ninth District House of Delegates seat. Any voter registered in Virginia can vote in a primary election. You vote at your regular polling place.

While all of the races are important in some way or another and the statewide races are getting the money and media attention, the local races here are really the more interesting. The local candidates are the ones that will be making decisons more likely to affect your day-to-day experiences and the ones most likely to show up at your civic association meeting or respond to your call or email. A matter of tens of votes will probably separate the winner from the loser in these elections, so your participation will make a difference.

Richmond City Sheriff

Mention this contest and the inevitable question is “what does the sheriff do, anyway?”. If you’ve read this far, here is your reward: The Richmond City Sheriff oversees the city jail, the serving of civil documents, and security for the city courts. Go forth and sound knowledgeable.

Major Antionette Irving, a resident of the city’s East End, is challenging with a campaign emphasizing an impressive career with the Henrico Sheriff’s office, a record of community involvement, and a desire to “[raise] the standards of the Sheriff’s office”. Don Coleman, School Board 7th District representative, said of Irving’s community service that she “is a true citizen […] her sincere concern and actual participation in serving young people through her foundation are to be commended”.

Sheriff C.T.Woody is running for re-election on a platform of promises kept, and a record of “improved jail security and fiscal responsibility”. Woody has about every local politician of note endorsing him, including all of the members of Richmond City Council.

Perhaps unique in a local election, the race for sheriff boasts two eminently qualified candidates. Woody has made genuine progess putting the house in order in the Sheriff’s Department in his first term, and seems poised to build on this given more time. Irving would bring perspective and experience from one of the few jails accreditated by the American Corrections Association.

House of Delegates 69th District

All three candidates for this position are running on similar platforms that include improving public education, economic development, and public safety. You’ll need to choose instead between steady experience, youthful desire to be a part of the process, and naked political ambition.

One-time schoolboard candidate and blogger James River Maven hits the nail on the head for Carlos Brown in “Carlos Brown, Where DOES He Live?“. Brown has a history of moving into districts so that he can run for office. Back in December he moved to the 70th District, but lost with 17% of the vote. When Delegate Hall accepted Gov.Kaine’s appointment to the ABC Board, Brown moved yet again so that he could run for the seat in the 69th District. Given Brown’s naked desire to be in office *somewhere*, his endorsement by Mayor Jones, Senator Henry Marsh, and Senator McEachin only further underscore the blatantly political (as compared to civic) nature of his run.

Betsy Carr is a current Richmond Schoolboard member, having represented the 5th District since 2006. Her official bio touts her service at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, her work establishing the Micah Initiative, and the fact that she is a grandmother.

In direct contrast to Carr, Antione Green is a young man (late 20s) without much of a resume, but with much poise, presence, and ambition. He is a past president of the Richmond Crusade for Voters, having taken leave from the position during his 2nd term to run in this primary. He has been endorsed by the Richmond Voice and the Richmond Crusade for Voters.

As of the weekend before the election, Brown is reporting having raised $59,130, Carr is claiming $26,383, and Green has reported $0.

The 69th House District is heavily Democratic, having gone for Obama 6 to 1 in 2008 and Kerry 3 to 1 in 2004. The district includes portions of Southside, Carytown, Byrd Park, Maymont, Randolph, the Carillon district, a small piece of Henrico County and part of Chesterfield County. Just under 80% of the district is inside Richmond City limits.

Lieutenant Governor

The lieutenant governor serves as the President of the Senate of Virginia and is first in the line of succession to the governor. The lieutenant governor is usually seen as leading candidate for governor the following election cycle.

The two candidates for lieutenant governor are Jody Wagner and Michael Signer. Jon Bowerbank withdrew from the race on May 18, but his name will be on the ballot. Somebody somewhere described an essential difference between the two remaining candidates by saying that Wagner is running on her experience and Signer is running on issues, and this rings trueish.

Michael Signer says that he will make the office of lieutenant governor more of a platform to push progressive ideas. And while he is putting idea and action at the forefront of his run, Signer has an impressive resume for a man under 40. He comes across as incredibly intelligent and knowledgeable, and has in the past written both a book and for the Washington Post. Signer has worked as a legislative aide to Deeds and deputy counselor for Warner. Signer recently sat down with F.T.Rea and proudly described himself as “a Jim Webb Democrat”.

Jody Wagner is currently the Virginia Secretary of Finance and previously served as Treasurer of the Commonwealth of Virginia under Warner. Her official biography details the minutiae of her experience. Before working in state government, she was a lawyer and a small business owner. Wagner seems to be the estabishment candidate and locally has been endorsed by the Richmond Free Press, Congressman Bobby Scott, the Richmond Crusade for Voters, Mayor Jones, Delegate McQuinn, and Councilpersons Trammell, Jewell, and Squire.

Governor

The three candidates for Virginia governor are Creigh Deeds, Terry McAuliffe, and Brian Moran. As F.T.Rea put it so directly, “the choice between the three is more about style and character than it is about sharp contrasts in policies”. Deeds and Moran both stress their experience in public service and tout how they’ve worked with Governors Warner and Kaine, while McAuliffe casts himself as in the same vein as these executives with his “pragmatic, businessman’s approach to politics”.

Creigh Deeds is the current state senator representing the 25th District, a largely rural district that stretches west from Charlottesville to the West Virginia border. Deeds has served in public office since 1987, when he was elected to the position of Commonwealth’s Attorney of Bath County at age 29. He then served in the Virginia House of Delegates for 9 years and has served in the Senate of Virginia since 2001. He was a candidate in the 2005 attorney general race but lost to McDonnell by 323 votes. Deeds has a history of bipartisanship and reads as the least “liberal” of the 3 candidates — no one would argue against describing Deeds’ record as closest to the center. He recently received a high-profile endorsement from the Washington Post, something of a surpirse given the NOVA ties of his two opponents. He is also the only one of the 3 candidates to come up into the ‘hood as far as I know.

Terry McAuliffe is the former chairman of the Democratic National Committee and served as chairman of Hillary Clinton’s 2008 presidential campaign. He is a businessman and Democratic Party leader from Fairfax County, but has never run for or held office before. Supporters, including the Richmond Free Press, counter that his experience working in high level political circles is meaningful and describe him as a high spirited candidate that “thinks big, progressively”. McAuliffe says that he will be “the job creator-in-chief” and wants to be seen as a leader and executive. Because of his work at the national level, McAuliffe has a different kind of name recognition than the other two candidates and has been able to bring in folks like will.i.am and Bill Clinton to help spread the word.

Brian Moran served as a representative of the inside-the-beltway 46th District in Virginia’s House of Delegates for 14 years, a seat from which he resigned to be able to raise money for this race. Brian Moran is the youngest of seven children; his elder brother Jim Moran represents Virginia’s 8th congressional district. Moran is to the left of Deeds, and as Deeds has gained the momentum, has begun attacking Deeds on his support for gun ownership. Moran had earlier come out swinging on McAuliffe, saying that McAuliffe was of the “big money and those who raise it” and not of the people. In recent days, Moran has been positioning himself as the better liberal of the three, saying that he will use the pulpit of the governorship to work to overturn the Marshall-Newman Amendment and pointing out his stands against both construction of a coal-fired power plant in Surry County and drilling for oil off of Virginia’s coast.

Interestingly, the governer’s race has split the local Democratic establishment. Senator Marsh and Delegate McQuinn have endorsed Deeds, McAuliffe has been endorsed by the Richmond Free Press and City Council 5th District representative Jewell, while Moran is supported by Mayor Jones and Commonwealth’s Attorney Mike Herring.

I’ve heard a location to get a photo of a Wagner sign, but too late to get the photo before I lost the light yesterday. I’ll add that this afternoon.
I’ve donated to the Deeds campaign, but I think that I was fairly objective above.
Surprisingly enough, I made it all of the way through this without calling anyone a douche bag.