Richmond Times-Dispatch - Trammell Tries to Find His Place in 7th District Race

News Article

By Markus Schmidt

Deeply embedded in the Republican heartland of Louisa County lies Mineral, a town of less than 500. U.S. 522, the main throughway parting the community, is checkered with farms and dotted with yard signs signaling support for Republican candidates.

But just north off the rural subdivision of Apple Grove, two Democratic signs guard an unpaved dust road leading back to a small, late 1890s farmhouse -- the home of Jack Trammell, the party's candidate for the 7th District congressional seat formerly held by Eric Cantor.

One could call Trammell a political outsider in his community. But being a Democrat living among Republicans isn't as challenging as one might think, Trammell says.

"It actually doesn't bother me at all," he said in a recent interview over breakfast at his home. "Those signs, they generally only come up a month or so before elections. The rest of the time, people don't really talk too much politics.

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

Trammell knows that if he wants to win against Dave Brat, the Republican nominee who defeated Cantor in a June GOP primary, he must connect with conservatives not just in Louisa but in a district where no Democrat has won a statewide race since 1970, except for Mark R. Warner's victory in the 2008 U.S. Senate race.

Republican territory

"The outcomes of open-seat races for Congress depend heavily on the party preferences of voters in the district, and voters in the 7th District strongly favor Republicans," said Dan Palazzolo, a political science professor at the University of Richmond.

This election is no different -- and the deck is stacked in favor of the Republican, Palazzolo said. "Any Democrat, including Jack Trammell, is a long shot in this district."

In 2012, Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney carried the 7th District with 57 percent of the vote, leading President Barack Obama by 15 percentage points.

And the low-polling president's policies, unpopular among many conservative voters, may be Trammell's biggest obstacle in this race. Thus, he attempts to distance himself from Obama.

"People here are not electing President Obama; they are electing somebody to represent the district," Trammell said.

An obligation to serve

Trammell said he was inspired to run for Congress by his students at Randolph-Macon College, where he teaches sociology (Brat is an economics professor at the same school), friends from his church, the few Democrats in the community and the words of his grandfather when Trammell was a child.

"My grandfather always told me that the more you get educated, the more obligated you are to use that to serve others," he said.

"And my students said to me that I complain a lot about Washington these days. They said I should apply that to my mouth and go to Washington to do something. And I said to myself, you know what? They are right. I should not complain. I should do something."

On the issues

Trammell has drawn his political views from the contrasts of growing up in rural Kentucky and, later, in Harlem in New York City while his father attended Columbia University. Over the years, he has often voted on issues across party lines.

He wants to see more Americans covered under the Affordable Care Act, but said he also understands the need to fix the law.

He supports comprehensive immigration reform that would put millions of undocumented immigrants on a path to citizenship, but he believes that increasing border security should be a big part of it.

He's careful, even vague, in articulating his foreign policy positions, stating that he would vote to authorize the president to take military action against Islamic State militants -- but that's "assuming there is information I don't have (now) that others are privy to, that shows this is a viable and important thing to do."

He says he's "hesitant" to support offshore drilling, but he is also willing to "not close all doors to it," awaiting a "cost-benefit analysis on that."

He supports same-sex marriage, women's rights and Roe v. Wade. He says he's a Second Amendment advocate -- but he believes in what he calls "common-sense gun laws" aimed at preventing violence.

He said he wants to see the minimum wage raised "as much as possible," without giving a specific amount. "I'd rather see somebody else set the bar and I'll push for it to be higher," he said.

In short, it seems Trammell is still trying to find his place in the world of politics. Yet he genuinely appears intent to serve -- and because of a soft-spoken, modest appearance, one hardly would imagine him drawing controversy.

"Jack is a great example of the type of Democrat who is stepping forward to run for office. He is smart, dedicated, and has a real vision of how to change the current stagnant political climate in Washington," said Robert Dempsey, executive director of the Democratic Party of Virginia.

"His background as a college professor and farmer means he's the real deal -- not your cookie-cutter career politician. He's a great example of what it means to be a Virginia Democrat: There's no one "look' or checklist to which our candidates conform. Virginia Democrats come from all corners of the commonwealth and all sorts of unique backgrounds," Dempsey said.

Atypical Democrat?

Trammell gets a kick out of people seeing the irony in the fact that he, the modest farmer from Louisa, father of seven, the history buff, an elder at his church and avid hunter and fisherman, is running as a Democrat.

On his 25-acre farm, Trammell and his wife, Audrie, keep three horses, a couple of donkeys, chickens, peacocks, cats and a dog. They also have a herd of sheep and harvest organic meat.

On the other side of the race, there is Brat -- a handsome, tanned, self-assured and somewhat flashy academic, a skilled tennis player and resident of a wealthy Richmond suburb, who is the Republican nominee.

"People joke about that all the time," Trammell said.

When Trammell initially decided to run, he assumed he was challenging Cantor, the second-most powerful Republican in the House, next in line to become speaker.

"I knew it was going to be an extremely tough battle against Eric Cantor and that I had to be prepared for that. But I told people, and I believe that I wouldn't have accepted the nomination unless I got in it to win," Trammell said.

One on one

Then came the Republican primary, when Brat ousted Cantor in a landslide. Trammell suddenly saw an opening to run against a candidate who was in many ways an equal.

"The first thought that I had was, holy cow, I wish I could just play one on one with this guy and we just decide it," said Trammell, who has played basketball with Brat on a faculty team at Randolph-Macon.

"This is somebody I know, somebody I have argued and debated with in the lunchroom. I had geared myself up to thinking I'm facing a veteran incumbent, a national figure. And now I am going against a relative newcomer, somebody who is in some ways a little like me."

Trammell and Brat are both 50 -- and the circumstance that they teach at the same school makes this a truly unique race, the University of Richmond's Palazzolo said.
"Congressional races rarely feature one college professor, much less two. It is a great story for Randolph-Macon," he said.

Key differences

But the similarities end with professional and institutional likenesses, Palazzolo said. "The choice between Brat and Trammell reveals that not all professors think alike."

Trammell's view on health care, for example, differs markedly from that of Brat, who wants to repeal the Affordable Care Act and replace it with free-market solutions that would limit the government's role in regulating insurance providers.

Trammell believes the health care law was the right thing to do, that it is here to stay, "and we need to fix it."

The Democrat admits that by knocking on many doors in the district, he meets voters, mostly Republicans, who are frustrated with -- even scared of -- the health care law.

"Some are complaining, obviously. But I do hear others who understand that more people are covered than ever before," Trammell said. "And frankly, here in Louisa, we have a portion of the population that are living at or near the poverty line and this has had an impact in helping people. Even Republicans, in this area, understand that."

Some of the fixes Trammell is proposing include an increase of tax credits for small businesses and the option to allow insurers to sell policies across state lines. These are ideas that many Republicans have proposed -- but most conservatives first want to see the law repealed.

"First, we must have a conversation about the political will; do we have the will to fix something like that? The will has to come from what is now a hole in the middle," Trammell said.

And that's where he sees his role and place, in bringing people together, from the center.

"People in Washington need to have a record of working together. I've had to work with people who disagree with me. A lot of what we need in Washington is not specific to politics, but specific to leadership and the ability to work with people," Trammell said. "My leadership roles in education are part of what qualifies me."

And his Republican opponent, Trammell said, falls short on bipartisanship and the ability to reach across the aisle. Brat, he said, is hiding his true intentions from voters, who must be made aware of Brat's agenda to make an informed decision at the polls.

"What I wouldn't want to see is for people not to know what Dave stands for or what I stand for and just go and check off the R or the D," Trammell said.

"There is too much at stake in this election, and I feel we are both obligated to give as much information about ourselves to the voters as we can. If his positions fall into a category that is more extreme than mine, then that's for the voters to decide."

Brat's camp responds

Brat spokesman Brian Gottstein said that for years, his candidate has proved his ability to reach across the aisle to work for the benefit of the people.

"Dave is an economist who has come along when the biggest issues on voters' minds are jobs and the economy. His solutions aren't partisan; they're economic," he said.

While Trammell has been trying to give the impression that he is running a positive campaign on the issues, Gottstein said, the Democrat has "spent his time hurling insults to pander to the far left, labeling Dave an extremist."

Libertarian James Carr, the only third-party candidate on the ballot, has a more flattering view of his Democratic opponent.

"Jack strikes me as honest and open to a free exchange of ideas which is not the case with all politicians," Carr said. "Some would argue that he is open to my inclusion (in the race) because it benefits him politically. But, Virginia has proven that Libertarian supporters come equally from those who, if there were no other choice, would vote for R's and D's. I believe he is honestly principled regarding voter options."

Palazzolo said that Trammell is campaigning as a problem solver who would work cooperatively with others.

"In this sense, he seems more pragmatic than Brat," he said. "He believes in fiscal responsibility, helping the middle class, improving education, and protecting women and veterans.

"It is hard to argue against motherhood and apple pie -- or Hanover tomatoes, for that matter."

However, it will be a challenge for Trammell to defeat a Republican candidate on Nov. 4, Palazzolo said.

"Unless they have been hiding in previous elections, there are not enough Democrats in the district to carry Trammell," he said.

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