Job That's a Heartbeat From the Top Isn't on Many Va. Minds

By Michael Laris

Monday, June 1, 2009

Jody Wagner co-owns a popcorn store in Virginia Beach, selling Chunky Choco Toffee Drizzle and 22 other flavors in decorated tins. She was also the state's treasurer and secretary of finance under Virginia's two most recent Democratic governors.

Michael Signer is a national security expert from Arlington County who helped lead an insurgent campaign to topple Republican congressman Rep. Virgil H. Goode Jr. in November and this year published his first book: "Demagogue: The Fight to Save Democracy from Its Worst Enemies."

They are the two Democrats running for their party's lieutenant governor nomination in an off-year, summertime, likely-low-turnout primary in which even the three men running for the top spot are struggling to capture the attention of a campaign-sated public.

The job itself is not a powerhouse, although the occupant presides over the state senate and can break ties. But the post can also be a profile-raiser and key stop on an ambitious politician's path to the governor's mansion.

"It matters primarily because the lieutenant governor is a heartbeat away," said Mark Rozell, a professor of public policy at George Mason University. "Given the unique one-term limit on governors in Virginia, politically it's a very important decision."

But if the governor's contest is "a turnout race" that will hinge on which candidate can nudge his most enthusiastic supporters to the polls for the June 9 primary, Rozell added, the No. 2 job is an even bigger stretch.

"Voters hardly ever think about it at all until right before they go into the voting booth," he said. "I see this as a race among people in the know in the Democratic Party."

The Republican nomination is already decided: Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling defeated Alexandria lawyer Patrick Muldoon at a convention Saturday.

Wagner, 53, is running as the experienced, establishment candidate, netting the backing of many Democrats in the General Assembly. Signer, 36, has run as the upstart, with support from many union leaders.

House Minority leader Ward L. Armstrong (D-Henry) worked with Wagner when she served as Gov. Timothy M. Kaine's secretary of finance. "Jody knows the state budget inside and out, and that's very difficult," Armstrong said. "All of our decisions are money-driven."

She helped Kaine write budgets under tight constraints and did it without laying off state workers, Armstrong said. "That's no small feat," especially in tough times, he said. Anybody can add money to programs, but slicing them without gutting core services is a skill, he added. And don't forget about the popcorn.

"The fact that she was successful in starting a small business and growing it, I think is phenomenally helpful when you're in government," Armstrong said.

Walter Yeatts, legislative director of the United Transportation Union in Virginia, is among the union leaders who have gotten behind Signer. "I think he'd be very energetic. He's young, he's smart, he's got a good grasp on a lot of issues," Yeatts said. He also was impressed with Signer's support for expanding rail in Virginia.

"I'm a middle-age white guy. I'm 48 years old. I just think we need some younger blood, some new thinking. Just because we've always done it that way doesn't mean it's the right way, or the way we should keep doing it," Yeatts said.

Among the key questions facing Democrats: Who would be best positioned to beat Bolling? And who can do most for the Democratic ticket?

"There are different points of view about that within the party," said Scott Surovell, chairman of the Fairfax Democratic Committee.

Some emphasize the benefit of having a woman on the ticket, Surovell said, and depending on whether either of the Northern Virginians running for governor wins the nomination, Wagner could also bring important "geographical diversity."

Others argue that there's a "mood of change and youth and new energy in the air, and Mike captures a lot of what President Obama was able to capture and benefit from," Surovell said.

The candidates, both lawyers, say personal experiences helped inspire them to seek the job.

Wagner learned about just how difficult it is to provide medical coverage "when I found myself trying to do it," she said. For two older workers, the cost of providing health care is "extraordinary," she said.

Her solution?

"My husband and I put in money every month to bridge the gap. We're contributing capital. That's not the ultimate solution, obviously," she said.

Wagner said she's proud of the work she did as treasurer under Gov. Mark Warner to maintain the state's AAA bond rating and the negotiations she helped lead with legislators over a key higher-education construction program under Kaine.

"My hope is if Governor Kaine trusted me to do that, Governor McAuliffe-Deeds-Moran will trust me to do that," she said.

Signer cites a racial incident at the University of Virginia as a formative moment. A woman of African American and Korean descent running for student office was attacked and called a racial slur in 2003, when he was a law student. Signer became the coordinator of a group called the Coalition for Progress on Race, which helped spawn a legal research center on race at U-Va. The lessons of that period have informed his politics since. "Dedicated activists," he said, "can have a serious and real impact on people's lives and on the system."

Signer has pushed for campaign finance reform, making it easier to vote early, giving more power to localities and restoration of voting rights for felons who have served their sentences. Almost all states except Virginia do that. "It's a medieval system," he said.

His work for political candidates, including as a top strategist in Tom Perriello's defeat of Goode in Virginia's 5th District, has shown him how to win in hard races, he said.

"I have the fire in the belly to take on and defeat Bill Bolling all year, and I would relish the opportunity," Signer said.

Tagged: 2009 governor's race, elections, politics, State news

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