Daily Progress - House, Senate Campaigns Entering Home Stretch

News Article

By Nate Delesline III

With less than a month to go before Election Day, the campaigns in Virginia for the House of Representatives and the Senate are entering the home stretch.

Ten candidates in all are vying for those three seats, and all said they're hearing the same sentiments from constituents as they crisscross the region and the state -- the economy and contempt for Washington's partisan gridlock top the list of voter concerns.

In the House's 5th District, incumbent Rep. Robert Hurt, a Republican, is facing challenges from Democrat Lawrence Gaughan, Libertarian Paul F. Jones and Independent Green Party candidate Kenneth Hildebrandt.

"We do and will have a strong ground game in all 23 counties and cities that we represent," Hurt said. "We've been working hard and will continue to work hard through Election Day, and obviously don't take anything for granted."

Hurt was elected to the House in 2010, unseating Democratic incumbent Tom Perriello and an independent challenger. Hurt retained his seat in 2012, defeating Democratic challenger John Douglass and Hildebrandt.

Hurt is confident his record on advancing economic legislation -- with bipartisan support -- will help him secure another term in Congress.

"I have tried over the last three years to be laser focused on those issues, and we have worked together with folks across the aisle to advance policies that will make it easier for working Virginians to succeed, make it easier for small businesses, make it easier for farmers to succeed in Virginia," Hurt said.

Leonore Jordan, a spokeswoman for Gaughan, said they're taking an "on-the-ground" approach in engaging voters throughout the vast 5th District, which stretches from the Washington suburbs south to the North Carolina border.

"It's a lot of territory to cover, but Lawrence Gaughan is personally going to events and meeting voters all over," Jordan said. "In less than a week, he's been in Bedford, Chatham, Danville, Charlottesville, Fauquier, Mecklenburg, Lunenburg, Prince Edward and Fluvanna."

Jordan said Gaughan has been hearing from "people who are tired of business as usual and ready to see someone new in office who will put them first. They are ready to see the playing field leveled. And they tell us they are ready to vote to see this happen."

Jones also spoke of the commitment required to campaign in the 5th District.

"As a third party candidate, funding is always a problem, especially since I don't take money from big business or [Political Action Committees]," he said. "The 5th District is so large, that I spend a lot of time on the road. I just returned from two days in the southern part of the state, going all the way to Lake Gaston on the North Carolina border."

Jones said he plans to head north this week, campaigning in Greene, Madison, Fauquier and Rappahannock counties. Jones said he's been encouraged by the reception he's received.

"The big issue that I see this year is people wanting positive change," Jones said. "The voters feel like they are not getting the representation that they deserve and that things keep getting worse."

Hildebrandt said not being linked with either of the two major parties has been a boon for his campaign, as well as his wife Elaine, who is running for office in Virginia's 6th District.

When they were working to get on the ballot, "our primary slogan in getting signatures was, "Not a Democrat or a Republican.' We usually didn't have to say anything more than that before they asked for the pen, and we had to get 1,000 valid signatures each," Hildebrandt said.

They are campaigning on a platform of tax structure reform and legalizing industrial hemp, which they say would decrease America's reliance on foreign oil.

"Those are huge issues," Hildebrandt said. "Hopefully the word of what's going on reaches enough to matter in time. We're doing all we can, but without others' effort, none of us will get anywhere, and we can predictably expect things to be politics as usual, getting worse all the time."

In the 7th District, Republican Dave Brat is in a three-way race with Democrat Jack Trammell and Libertarian James Carr to fill the seat held by former House Majority Leader Eric I. Cantor. Brat defeated Cantor in a June primary race, and Cantor resigned from Congress in August following the defeat. The upset of the longtime incumbent drew nationwide attention.

"I think everybody would agree -- Republicans and Democrats together would agree -- that the loss of the influence of the majority leader is significant for our state and very sad for our state, because when we have a person of the influence that Eric Cantor had championing the needs of our state, we were in a good position," said Hurt, who affirmed his support for Brat.

Since this summer, "Dave has been personally walking door-to-door since the primary," said Brat spokesman Brian Gottstein, "and the biggest issues he keeps hearing about are how expensive Obamacare is; how businesses aren't expanding and creating new jobs because of Obamacare's costs; how the average family is finding it hard to pay the bills, yet they only see federal spending going up; and how people are worried about our porous southern border, especially now that ISIS terrorists are talking about easily getting into the country there."

Although the 5th and 7th districts are seen as Republican strongholds, Gottstein said voters seem to be looking beyond party labels this campaign.

"When going door-to-door, we see voters who are so angry with Washington -- the slow economy and poor jobs outlook, the talk of [immigration] amnesty, and Obamacare's many failures -- that they are eager to send a conservative economist there who has a national platform and the policies to help turn things around," Gottstein said.

Trammell's campaign did not return emails and phone calls for comment, but in an interview last month with the Richmond Times-Dispatch, Trammell, who resides in Louisa County, said he's confident in his ability to work across the aisle.

"Around here, you can't pick and choose who you want or don't want to be involved with," Trammell said. "It's a small community and everybody has to be engaged with everybody. It's that kind of place."

Carr also is confident candidates without a "D" or an "R" attached to their names will stand out this fall, saying "faith in the current polarized two-party system is at an all-time low."

"While the district historically votes conservative, voters are telling me that they want the fiscal prudence but are reluctant to vote of another polarizing politician who wants to enforce their own religious views on social issues," he said.

"The tolerance for the extremist approach to politics is waning and my campaign presents the ideal alternative -- fiscal responsibility with social tolerance," Carr said. "This is what voters want and I believe they are going to discard the false idea that they only have two options this fall."

In the Senate, incumbent Democrat Mark R. Warner is in a three-way race with Republican challenger Ed Gillespie and Libertarian Robert Sarvis.

"What I'm hearing as I travel around the commonwealth is that Virginians want solutions, and I think one the biggest areas they want to see reformed is the issue of student debt," Warner said.

Warner was first in his family to graduate from college and paid for some of it through student loans. With some individuals and families facing student loan debts well over $50,000, Warner said economic growth and opportunities are being suppressed.

"Had I taken on that much debt, I am not sure I would have taken the chance to start a business," Warner said.

"Having been a business guy longer than I have been in politics, I approach problems by working from the middle out. It's the only way that we can find commonsense solutions to the problems Virginians face every day," he said.

Gillespie, Warner said, has a different approach.

"He is a self-described partisan warrior who would rather offer up a good sound bite than a solution," Warner said. "Frankly, the last thing we need in Washington is another partisan warrior who would only add to the gridlock."

Gillespie, in turn, pointed to Warner's record and support of President Obama's unsuccessful and unpopular policies as the reason voters should elect him instead.

"Economic anxiety is what I hear all across Virginia, with some pockets of deep economic pain," Gillespie said. "And people are deeply concerned that the policies of this administration, which Mark Warner supports 97 percent of the time, are making things worse."

In a campaign stop at the University of Virginia last week, Sarvis said he thinks voter turnout, which is typically low for mid-term elections, could work in his favor if he can get Libertarians to show up with the goal of getting Libertarians "major party" status. That can only happen if he gets 10 percent of the vote.

"General low turnout would be good for us, assuming we can get our people to the polls," Sarvis said. "The two major party candidates are basically the same," Sarvis said. "No one really believes that if you re-elect Mark Warner or send Ed Gillespie to the Senate, anything is going to change."

Most recently, Sarvis ran in a three-way race for governor in 2013 with Democrat Terry McAuliffe and Republican Ken Cuccinelli. McAuliffe won, and Sarvis said he would not run in next year's state elections. He also said he is not sure whether he'll be a political candidate again.

"This might be the end," Sarvis said. "I'm hoping to be able to recruit candidates … I'm not going to say "never.'"

Source