In Virginia we have a crucial election this year. The question is whether we will continue the successes of Governors Warner and Kaine, or whether we will recede to the George Allen and Jim Gilmore years. For only the second time since 1953, we will have a gubernatorial nominee who has never held statewide office. And we will seek to be the first party to elect a Virginia governor of the same party as the President since 1973.
In this race we have three fine men who would be infinitely better in the governor's mansion than extremist Republican Bob McDonnell. Our former Attorney General, Mr. McDonnell, is a graduate of Regent University Law School, and a confidant of Pat Robertson. He must not be able to wreck the legacy of success left by Governors Warner and Kaine.
Still, despite all of our candidates being superior in quality to the Republican nominee, this will be a difficult fight. Mr. McDonnell is affable, good-looking, well-funded, and has won statewide before. So we must pick the best candidate to articulate our message, represent our party, and take the fight to McDonnell not just in our strongholds, but on McDonnell's turf as well. The best candidate to do that is a man named Creigh Deeds.
Creigh Deeds is a farmer, prosecutor, and state Senator. He represents a district that stretches from the university city of Charlottesville, to rural Bath County, where he makes his home. In the state legislature, he wrote Megan's Law, which allows public access to the state sex offender registry, and sponsored the Amber Alert Program. He has been the driving force behind non-partisan redistricting, and is pushing an ambitious energy policy that will cut greenhouse gases by 30 percent over the next twenty years.
In 2005, Creigh was our nominee for Attorney General against none other than Bob McDonnell. After a hard-fought race and recount, Creigh lost by an agonizingly close 360 votes. Despite Gov. Kaine's strong performance, Creigh was hampered by initially poor fundraising and a Lieutenant Governor running mate who was unelectable, and effectively acted as a circuit breaker for those who might cast a straight Democratic ticket.
These problems will not present themselves this time around. Creigh will be at the top of the ticket, will enjoy at least one Northern Virginian on the ticket in Attorney General candidate Steve Shannon (who is unopposed in the Democratic primary), and despite being hamstrung by a Virginia law that prohibits legislators from fundraising while the General Assembly is in session, Creigh Deeds surprised most of the political observers in the state by raising $600,000 in the only 44 days during which he was allowed to raise money in the first quarter. This left him with more cash-on-hand than the current leader in the primary race, former state Del. Brian Moran.
We've heard a lot about Terry McAuliffe and Brian Moran this season, and with good reason: McAuliffe has been able to raise almost as much as Creigh and Brian combined, and has been aggressive in his campaign with a spirit that I've enjoyed watching. And Brian Moran is clearly the choice of most of the liberal activists in our great commonwealth. He's a good man who would do a good job in Richmond. But most of the primary season has been about the attempts of the McAuliffe and Moran camps to tear each other down. Heavily contested primaries are usually a bloodsport--it's easy to bash Republicans, but when it's Democrat on Democrat it always feels nastier. And yet the battle between Terry and Brian has gotten shrill and has done us no favors. Further, I remain unconvinced that either of these gentlemen could win in a general election.
Creigh Deeds offers us a chance to nominate an accomplished legislator, one who has run statewide against McDonnell before, and came within a handful of votes of beating him. He also is a man who is a proven vote-getter in rural areas, winning in areas that neither of his primary opponents can. And he has steadfastly refused to get down in the dirt during a disturbingly and increasingly nasty primary campaign.
These are just some of the reasons I support Creigh Deeds for Governor. I hope those of you who vote in Virginia will join me in voting for Senator Deeds in the Democratic Primary on June 9th.