The Democratic primary is Tuesday, June 9. Voters will be selecting the Democratic candidates for Governor and Lieutenant Governor, and in some districts, the candidate for the House of Delegates.
The state Republican party held a large convention in Richmond last weekend to select their candidates so the slate is complete: Bob McDonnell for Governor; Bill Bolling for Lieutenant Governor; and Ken Cuccinelli for Attorney General.
But in Democratic circles the excitement is building and the outcome is not certain. There have been some survey type polls, straw polls, and reports of funds raised and on hand. There are as many theories as to what will happen as there are Democrats!
Three candidates are vying for the Democratic nomination for Governor. Two are from Northern Virginia: former Democratic National Committee chair Terry McAuliffe of McLean and former delegate Brian Moran, younger brother of Congressman Jim Moran, of Alexandria. Senator Creigh Deeds from rural Bath County, who was nearly elected Attorney General in 2005, is the final Democratic candidate.
In an interesting twist, it was Creigh Deeds who was endorsed by the Washington Post for the nomination.
The editorial said “Deed would make the best Governor in the Warner-Kaine tradition . . . We also believe that he has the character, experience and savvy to be a successful leader of the entire commonwealth.”
In the meantime Terry McAuliffe has been leading in most polls while Brian Moran had the highest number of votes in the straw poll taken at the Fairfax Jefferson-Jackson dinner on Sunday night.
The Lieutenant Governor’s race now has two candidates: Mike Signer hails from Arlington, was deputy counsel for Governor Mark Warner and has varied high level policy and political experience; Jody Wagner, a lawyer from Virginia Beach, was Treasurer of Virginia for Mark Warner and served as Secretary of Finance for Governor Kaine.
They have had less notice from the press and the electorate as the Governor’s race tends to dominate the media. I haven’t seen much in the way of polls for the L.G. contest, though Jody Wagner got by far the most votes in the straw poll at the J-J dinner.
I should mention that Steve Shannon, Democratic delegate from Northern Virginia, has already secured the nomination for Attorney General since no one else filed.
Most unknown of all is what the all-important turnout will be. No one expects it to be anything at all as high as last year’s Presidential primary turnout, but many hope that some of that excitement will be present again. Certainly the candidates are doing their best to get the message out and remind people of the primary election next Tuesday.
I hope that all of you who subscribe to the ideals of the Democratic party will come to the polls on June 9th between 6 am and 7 pm to vote for the candidate of your choice.
As for me, I will be voting for Creigh Deeds and Jody Wagner.
