By Anita Kumar
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
R. Creigh Deeds, a longtime state legislator from rural Bath County, won a stunning come-from-behind victory in the Democratic primary for Virginia governor last night, overwhelming a pair of better-funded and better-positioned opponents.
Deeds beat Brian Moran and Terry McAuliffe in every region of the state, including vote-rich Northern Virginia, despite a pro-gun stance and relatively conservative positions that are out of line with many of the area's voters.
Deeds will face Republican Robert F. McDonnell in a general election battle that amounts to a rematch of the race for attorney general four years ago, which McDonnell barely won after a late surge by Deeds.
This year, Deeds surged when he needed to, airing statewide television ads in the final weeks of the race and capitalizing on an endorsement from this newspaper that quickly became a theme of his campaign in the Washington suburbs.
While Moran won the support of many local Democratic leaders and McAuliffe assembled an all-star cast of Virginia campaign veterans, Deeds was virtually ignored by his opponents for months as polls repeatedly showed him in distant third place. But Deeds, a quiet, unpolished lawmaker who refused to attack or engage his rivals for much of the race, showed an authenticity that appeared to resonate with voters.
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State Sen. Mary Margaret Whipple (Arlington), an early Deeds endorser, noted that his late move came soon after he began airing ads saying, "Virginia's never been one to elect flashy."
Deeds, already known by Virginians in all corners of the state after his 2005 bid, began receiving the support of many undecided voters who were attracted to his pledge to bridge regional and partisan divides and invest in road and transit improvements.
At Deeds's victory party, drinks were flowing, Boston's rock anthem "More Than a Feeling" was playing, and people were in a jubilant mood in the Jefferson Ballroom of the Omni Hotel in Charlottesville as the returns came in.
Peppy G. Linden, 59, executive director of the Children's Museum in Charlottesville, said the victory was all the sweeter because Deeds had been the underdog who was too nice, too rural and too conservative to win.
"He's intelligent. He's got a sense of Virginia history. He knows how to be effective, and he's dedicated to what's best for Virginia," Linden said. "He's not egotistical. And he works so damn hard."
At Alexandria's Hilton Mark Center, Moran conceded the race a few minutes after 8 p.m., saying that Deeds is now "invincible" after a punishing three-way Democratic primary. "This wasn't exactly the evening we had hoped for," said Moran, standing next to his brother, Rep. James P. Moran Jr. (D-Va.), his wife and two children.
The McAuliffe crowd at the Westin Arlington Gateway hotel was upbeat even though McAuliffe's campaign came to an end earlier than they had hoped. "This may have not have turned out the way we wanted, but it was quite a ride,'' McAuliffe said. "Over the past five months, I have crisscrossed Virginia and talked to people of all walks of life, and I've got to say, it's been one of the best experiences of my life."
Most of the race had centered on McAuliffe, a nationally known political celebrity and longtime friend of Bill and Hillary Clinton's, whose boundless energy and booming voice attracted attention from voters and the media.
Virginia's fiercely contested governor's race — one of only two statewide races in the nation this year — is being watched closely by both national parties.
President Obama and Virginia Gov. Timothy M. Kaine, who is also the Democratic National Committee chairman, are eager to continue a Democratic streak in Virginia. But Republicans hungry for a win are already spending millions of dollars in Virginia to try to win back the governor's mansion.
"I think this race in Virginia will decide whether we continue to have a moderate, middle of the road, common-sense approach to solving people's problems, like Tim Kaine and Mark Warner have done, or whether we revert back to the kind of stuff we saw with . . . the extreme right," said C. Richard Cranwell, chairman of the Democratic Party of Virginia.
In the race for lieutenant governor, Jody Wagner, a former secretary of finance from Virginia Beach, defeated newcomer Michael Signer, a campaign strategist and national security expert from Arlington County. Wagner will face Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling (R) in November.
Heading into yesterday's election, the Democratic primary remained remarkably fluid, with many voters still undecided on who would have the best chance against one of the Virginia Republicans' best candidates in years.
Deeds and Moran had been quietly laying the groundwork to run for years, expecting it to be two-person race.
Moran, 49, of Alexandria, who spent two decades as a prosecutor and legislator, was the favorite from the start. He had the support of most of the state's elected officials and party activists and had expected them to help turn out his base in vote-rich Northern Virginia and, to a lesser extent, Hampton Roads and Richmond.
Moran supporters even tried to persuade Deeds to drop out and run for attorney general. But Deeds, 51, whose district is a mostly rural, conservative area in the central and western parts of the state, traveled Virginia touting bipartisan solutions to the state's transportation problems and a new investment in higher education as a way to create more jobs.
McAuliffe's unexpected jump from national politics into the governor's race late last year shook up the contest. Moran shifted to the left, touting his support of gay rights and opposition to oil drilling, and began steadily attacking McAuliffe for his business dealings and lack of involvement in Virginia politics.
McAuliffe, 52, who lives in McLean but is best known on the national scene, campaigned as a Richmond outsider who would bring needed change to a state Capitol mired in partisan bickering and use his business background to create jobs.
Deeds refused to engage in the attacks or the back and forth between his rivals, choosing instead to watch quietly from the sidelines — to the point of sometimes being ignored.
In the final days, McAuliffe and Moran worked aggressively to push back on Deeds's rise by reminding voters of his right leaning record, which included supporting allowing concealed weapons in restaurants that serve alcohol and opposing a ban on restricting handgun purchases to just one a month. But it was too late.
In the closing days of the race, Deeds fought back to convince voters that he was just the type of moderate Democrat who could beat McDonnell.
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