Potts files suit to get into debate

Chris Graham

Story by Chris Graham Russ Potts has filed suit against the University of Virginia Center for Politics seeking a spot in the televised gubernatorial-candidates debate being sponsored by the center and WWBT-NBC12 in Richmond this weekend. A hearing on Potts’ suit has been scheduled for noon today in a federal court in Charlottesville. Potts, an…

Potts down to last strike: Candidate running out of polls, time

Chris Graham

Story by Chris Graham Independent Russ Potts may have only one chance left to qualify for an Oct. 9 televised gubernatorial-candidate debate. Three organizations – Mason-Dixon, Rasmussen Reports and The Washington Post – have been regularly polling Virginia voters as to their preferences for governor in the 2005 elections. Only one of those three, the…

Where all is bright and gay: Virginia at forefront of gay-rights debate

Chris Graham

The Top Story by Chris Graham   There was an unspoken tension in the room – beneath the surface, but very much palpable. The Valley Family Forum hosted an event last week in Bridgewater titled “Gay Activism: Its Impact on America.” The idea was to get Shenandoah Valley residents together to hear from a group…

Being Russ Potts

Chris Graham

Story by Chris Graham Russ Potts is running for governor as an independent – to the consternation of Republican Party officials in Richmond and elsewhere in the Old Dominion. The state party asked Potts to resign his Virginia Senate seat – and declared that Potts is no longer a member of the GOP. Potts, for…

15 percent and rising: Is debate inclusion standard fair?

Chris Graham

Story by Chris Graham If independent Russ Potts had his way, he would be in every candidate debate that his gubernatorial-race opponents Tim Kaine and Jerry Kilgore are in – no questions asked. A guaranteed spot in the Super Bowl of the 2005 Virginia debate season – the Oct. 9 debate in Richmond that will…

Getting to know Tim Kaine

Chris Graham

Story by Chris Graham Tim Kaine knew when he made his mind up that he was going to run for lieutenant governor in 2001 that he was committing himself to another political campaign four years later. “Honestly, when I ran for lieutenant governor, I thought, you know, if I am lieutenant governor, then I will…

On the campaign trail with Bill Bolling

Chris Graham

Story by Chris Graham Bill Bolling has learned to live life on the go. “I will not leave here tonight without my Polish-sausage sandwich and my candy apple,” said Bolling, the Republican Party lieutenant-governor nominee, standing at the front gate of the Rockbridge County Fair in Lexington Wednesday night. So he has eating on the…

Kaine talks regional growth, I-81

Chris Graham

Story by Chris Graham Tim Kaine spent a good part of his day on Wednesday talking about how he wants to take steps to strengthen regional economies in Virginia. So … what would the presumptive Democratic Party gubernatorial nominee do to improve the lifeblood of Western Virginia’s regional economy that is Interstate 81?