Virginians Speak Out on State Elections
By Necie Green, 11.17.05

Virginia Beach, Va. - Dawn Wright sits at her desk, thumbing through a stack of papers. She busies herself to keep her mind off of one thing – the election of a Democratic governor in the previous day’s elections.

Wright admits that she strongly considered voting for Democrat Tim Kaine. She changed her mind due to one issue: abortion.

She voted for the Republican candidate Jerry Kilgore because she felt that Republicans would “go along with my values against abortion,” Wright said.

On Tuesday, Nov. 8, Kaine was elected governor of Virginia with 52 percent of votes to Kilgore’s 46 percent. Republican Bill Bolling was elected Virginia’s new lieutenant governor, while Republican Bob McDonnell narrowly prevailed as attorney general.

As usual, the candidates used mudslinging as a campaign tool. Wright looked beyond the negative campaigning to cast her vote.

“They all mudsling,” she said, “but how can anyone be for partial birth abortions?”

But the excessive attack ads were the deciding factor for some in this election.

Merrill Reese said, “ Despite what the poles say about negative advertising, I am tired of it and I think that it shows poor judgment on the part of both candidates and their campaign staff.”

David McKenzie described Kilgore’s “cheap attacks on [Kaine’s] religious beliefs” as “very unnerving” and classified it as “typical conservative scare tactics.”

Reese advised that candidates should, “Stick to the issues and your view on the issues and on what you have to offer…not on your opponent and what their beliefs or voting records are.”

Jay Albe believed that Kilgore’s campaign advertisements cost him the election.

“As a conservative, registered Republican and a devout Christian, I was not surprised to see Kilgore lose the governor's race,” Albe said.

“This was a statement by the Republican base that on principal we will step aside when a Republican candidate assaults our principals and values with ad tactics which are only suitable for Democrats who have a ‘win at all cost’ mentality,” Albe said.

Andrew Esposito did not vote due to schedule conflicts. However, he had his opinion on the candidates and issues.

“I probably would have voted for Bill Bolling because he was one of a very few candidates in the Republican primary to announce a plan about anything,” Esposito said.

“As to attorney general, I would have voted for Deeds. In terms of the issues, the main difference between the candidates as conveyed by the campaign ads is a different treatment of sex-offenders once they are released from jail or prison,” Esposito said. “I believe that once a person has served his or her time, the law should pretend as though the crime did not happen.”

For different reasons, Esposito would have voted Kaine for governor.

“The two issues most important to me are education and the environment. Interestingly, it is my opinion that Tim Kaine's education plan is really bad, but...I…vote based on the perceived quality of the candidate as a person, not on my agreement with what I perceive to be his or her positions on issues which are important to me,” Esposito said.

Partisanship aside, Virginians are looking forward to issues such as education, transportation, and the environment being addressed.

“I like that Kaine focused on transportation, [and] like that he focused on continued budget reform,” McKenzie said. “Having Mark Warner in his corner really helped.”

Wright said, “Mark Warner has done a really good job. If he [Kaine] can pick up where Mark Warner left off, he could do well.”

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