Sportsmen for (insert candidate name here)

Chris Graham

Story by Chris Graham   Either Virginia sportsmen are the key to winning the 2005 Virginia governor’s race – or Tim Kaine and Jerry Kilgore are plumb running out of ideas. “Neither one has been able to get any traction with voters, so they’re grasping at straws. They’re grasping at the sportsmen issue. They’re trying…

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…

On the trail with Leslie Byrne

Chris Graham

Story by Chris Graham Leslie Byrne was back in the office the morning after her hard-fought victory in the June 14 Democratic Party lieutenant-governor primary. She really had no choice – to hear her tell it. “The first priority was to start talking to folks now that we’re the candidate, to start gathering support, particularly…

Reform? Or increase?

Chris Graham

Story by Chris Graham   It was tax reform. It was a tax increase. The 2004 Virginia General Assembly session is being played out again in the 2005 Virginia gubernatorial campaign – and still the two sides can’t agree on even the most basic terms of what happened last spring. “My opponent is using all…

Abortion and votes: How will issue affect ’05 governor’s race?

Chris Graham

Story by Chris Graham Tim Kaine and Jerry Kilgore are still feeling their way around the abortion-rights issue. They both might be well advised to find a path and stick to it – because the pending political battle involving John Roberts’ nomination to the United States Supreme Court promises to keep the issue in the…

Matalin breaks down ’05 gubernatorial race

Chris Graham

Story by Chris Graham   The eyes of the nation are on the 2005 Virginia gubernatorial race, said Mary Matalin, a political commentator and former advisor to President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney. “This race is and will be the most-watched race in the country,” Matalin told Republicans across the state gathered for a…

Kilgore fleshes out tax-relief plan

Chris Graham

Story by Chris Graham Backdoor tax increases resulting from increases in local property-value reassessments are “unfair,” Republican Party gubernatorial-nomination frontrunner Jerry Kilgore said on Wednesday. “I don’t know about you, but the only number that I care about as a taxpayer goes in that little box on the right-hand side of each check that I…

Fitch waging solo campaign for GOP nod

Chris Graham

Story by Chris Graham Somebody forgot to tell George Fitch that he was supposed to have given up on his bid for the Republican Party gubernatorial nomination a long time ago. “I’ve got another 10,000 miles between now and the primary,” said Fitch, the Warrenton mayor, who is waging the most grassroots of campaigns for…