Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, May 28, 1995 TAG: 9505300018
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DWAYNE YANCEY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
James Thompson of Pearisburg would like to send Gov. George Allen a message this fall.
"Allen's got a little radical," complained Thompson, a retired federal government employee.
He thinks Allen's proposal to set up special "charter schools" would hurt public schools. And he's down on the Allen administration's efforts to relax environmental regulations, which he believes will encourage pollution. "It's so obvious," Thompson said. "They're trying to go back to where you can just dump it in."
If Thompson had a choice, he'd be inclined to vote for a Democratic candidate when Virginians go to the polls to elect a new General Assembly in November.
But Thompson won't have a choice.
Both of his representatives in the state legislature are Republicans - and unless something unexpected happens in the next two weeks, both Del. Tommy Baker of Pulaski County and state Sen. Malfourd "Bo" Trumbo of Fincastle will be unopposed this fall.
The Giles County voter thinks he's being disenfranchised. "Oh yes," he said. "The situation does bother me. It's no two-party system."
It's no surprise, either.
This fall, Virginians will take part in what promises to be one of the most important elections ever held for the state legislature. For the first time since Reconstruction ended in the 1870s, party control of the General Assembly hangs in the balance.
Both Democrats and Republicans are primed for an all-out battle that will rival a statewide campaign - which, in a way, it is. The insurgent Republicans, in particular, pledge to field more candidates than ever as they seek to pick up the three seats they need to win control of the 100-member House and the three seats they need to take charge of the 40-member Senate.
But while most Virginians will be able to cast their ballots in what amounts to a historic referendum on the direction of state government, many voters in Western Virginia won't have any say at all.
It's not unusual, of course, for General Assembly candidates to run unopposed. In this same election cycle four years ago, almost 40 percent of the state legislators ran unchallenged. It's also important to point out that Virginians probably will see more contested races than ever before. Some incumbents who have gone a decade or more without a major party challenge, such as Democratic Dels. Clifton "Chip" Woodrum and Victor Thomas in Roanoke, now have opposition.
But what makes this year's crop of "places with no races" notable is that three of the House districts in Western Virginia where incumbents are unopposed overlap with a sprawling Senate district whose incumbent - Trumbo - is going unchallenged.
That means voters in much of Botetourt County, Salem, the Glenvar section of Roanoke County, Radford, and about half of Giles County and Pulaski County won't have a choice in who represents them in either chamber of the General Assembly.
For the most part, ordinary voters in those communities aren't aware that they're about to be shut out of this fall's election - the deadline for putting candidates' names on the ballot is June 13 and there's not a challenger in sight.
But clue them in, and citizens have plenty to say about how they think the political process has let them down.
"We don't have a choice," said Salem homemaker Sherry Siska. "That does kind of bother me. I hate having people run unopposed. It's a pet peeve of mine."
"You feel cheated," agreed another Salem homemaker, Louise Padgett. "We'd like a choice, even if we decide to vote for the same ones."
It's a matter of principle, she says. She likes both of her legislators, Trumbo and Del. Morgan Griffith, R-Salem. Still, incumbents always need opposition just so they can be held "accountable," she says.
That seems to be a common concern for citizens - who often appear to value competition more than the political parties themselves.
Take Reed McGhee. The retired railroad worker lives in the Goodview neighborhood of Bedford County. In the House, he's represented by longtime independent Del. Lacey Putney of Lynchburg, who traditionally goes unchallenged by either party. His state senator, Democrat Elliot Schewel of Lynchburg, is retiring. The Republican contender for his seat will be Lynchburg Del. Steve Newman. Democrats insist they'll field a candidate, but so far haven't found one - and their failure to do so is becoming embarrassingly noticeable as the filing deadline approaches.
McGhee's not happy about it. "The Democratic Party is letting us down," he said. "It's like a fellow runing from a fight. They're leaving their supporters out in the cold."
He understands that sometimes it's hard for political parties to come up with challengers - running for office takes time and money. Still, he's so turned off by the sight of unopposed candidates, "I make a habit of never voting for anyone, no matter who it is, if he's running unopposed."
There's a distinct partisan dimension to the districts that appear likely to go uncontested this fall - it's usually Democrats who are failing to challenge Republicans, not the other way around.
For instance, Scott Leake, one of the Republicans' chief strategists for legislative elections, says his party will probably challenge 40 of the 51 Democrats in the House this fall, but he knows of only 15 Democrats challenging the 48 Republican incumbents.
In the candidate recruiting contest between the House Republican and Democratic leaders, "this is one race where Vance Wilkins has clearly beaten Dickie Cranwell," Leake boasted.
To Leake, the numbers aren't just a sign that Republicans are better organized, they're a sign that Virginia is about to elect its first Republican state legislature. "Seventy percent of the districts in Virginia are break-even Republican or better," he said, which is making it easier to recruit GOP challengers.
Democratic strategists have a different take on things. "Their numbers are wrong," said party spokeswoman Gail Nardi, although she declined to estimate how many candidates her party will field.
In any event, there are some practical considerations why it's sometimes hard to recruit candidates - especially in the Western Virginia districts where voters won't have any choice this fall.
Some were designed by a Democratic-controlled legislature as a kind of dumping ground for Republican-leaning precincts, as a way of making neighboring districts more hospitable to Democrats.
That's certainly the case in Griffith's House district. "In Salem, you've got a practical problem," former Salem Democratic Chairman Ross Hart said. "The General Assembly basically drew the boundaries to get as many Republicans into that district as possible. Who's going to go out and campaign for six months or a year in a very difficult district when you have a very conservative mood among the people at large?''
The sheer size of some of the districts in rural areas may also play a part. Trumbo says he puts 50,000 miles on his car each year, just travelling to and from events in his elongated district. "If someone wants to run who wants to be familiar with the district, I'd like to take them on a tour," he said. "We'll start up at Williamsville in Bath County, and we'll go all the way down to the Bland County line. It'll take us about three days to hit all the spots."
That discourages many challengers, Hart agrees. "There's no center to that district," he said. A potential challenger may be well-known in his or her home community, but the individual communities within Trumbo's district are usually so small they don't offer much of a political base.
There's also the nature of the incumbents. Griffith and Trumbo may be Republicans, but they haven't been so partisan about it that they've made Democrats fighting mad to kick them out.
"I can't complain about the job Morgan and Bo are doing," Hart said. "I disagree with some of the things they're doing, but heck, I disagree with some of the things Chip [Woodrum] and Vic [Thomas] and Dick [Cranwell] are doing. ... They haven't been in lock step. They've been reasonably independent, and people appreciate that."
Indeed, Trumbo disputes the suggestion that voters in his district are about to be disenfranchised because Democrats haven't come up with anyone to challenge him. "I don't consider that an election comes every two years or every four years," he said.
"The true election is during your term in office and how you respond to your constituents. A lot of elections aren't lost in October or November, they're lost during your term of office because constituents don't see you."
The way Trumbo sees it, voters in his district have had a choice for the four years he has represented them. "If you go to places like Connie's in Fincastle or Anna's Restaurant in Narrows, they're constantly talking politics," he said. If voters didn't like the job he was doing, he says, Democrats would have sensed the discontent and a challenger would have stepped forward.
Padgett, the Salem homemaker, agrees that citizens need to speak out more about politics. "They shouldn't just leave it to the parties," she said. "When you don't speak up, they really don't know."
Keywords:
POLITICS
by CNB