Treasurer candidates debate merits of suit

Chris Graham

Story by Chris Graham The bulk of the attention in the Staunton city elections this fall has been on the hot commissioner of the revenue race pitting incumbent Ray Ergenbright and challenger Maggie Ragon – and their tussle over whether or not Ergenbright should shoulder the blame for the delayed implementation of a new revenue-management…

Checks and imbalances: Are Staunton leaders aiming at elimination of revenue, treasurer offices?

Chris Graham

Story by Chris Graham Staunton commissioner of the revenue candidate Maggie Ragon stumbled on the question initially. She had just been asked by a candidates’ forum moderator her thoughts on the issue of whether or not the office of commissioner of the revenue should remain an elected office. “That’s a good question,” said Ragon, who…

30 seconds to Election Day: How campaigns use TV to reach voters

Chris Graham

Story by Chris Graham   They’ve spent $18 million to date on the 2005 gubernatorial campaign – and it could all come down to a folksy television spot that featured Jerry Kilgore and his twin brother, Terry, arguing over who is the better-looking one of the two. “No, I had no idea it would take…

Twin peak: Terry Kilgore stumps for his brother in Valley

Chris Graham

Story by Chris Graham Terry Kilgore thought his brother had a future in politics – as the next great GOP campaign strategist. “Jerry actually ran my first House campaign 12 years ago,” said Terry Kilgore, the twin brother of Jerry Kilgore, the Republican Party gubernatorial nominee. “He was so good at it, so organized. He…

The Valley Responds: A Halloween to remember

Crystal Graham

(This is the second installment in a six-part series on The Valley Responds, an effort that links the Shenandoah Valley with residents of Long Beach, Miss.)   In Long Beach, Miss., children celebrated Halloween just like most children here in Virginia. At school, the children were outside getting their faces painted – with witches and…

Power to the people?

Chris Graham

Story by Chris Graham Republican Party gubernatorial candidate Jerry Kilgore wants to give Virginia voters the final say-so when it comes to tax increases. “Taxation is the most basic relationship between a people and its government. I trust the people to make decisions on whether they want to pay more in taxes or less in…

Pro-life votes in the ’05 election: Is Kilgore risking their support with run to the center?

Chris Graham

Story by Chris Graham Republican Party gubernatorial nominee Jerry Kilgore has been relentless in recent weeks in his attacks on Democratic Party rival Tim Kaine on one hot-button social issue, the death penalty. Look for Kaine to fight back at Kilgore by highlighting another hot-button social issue – abortion – in the 2005 campaign’s final…

Catholicism and the death penalty

Chris Graham

Story by Chris Graham The death penalty has become the central issue in the 2005 Virginia governor’s race – and by extension, so has the view of the Catholic church toward the death penalty. Democratic Party gubernatorial candidate Tim Kaine, a Catholic, has been under fire since the outset of his race against Republican Jerry…

Liberal use of the L-word

Chris Graham

Story by Chris Graham   To say that the Jerry Kilgore campaign is efforting to paint Kilgore’s Democratic Party rival Tim Kaine as a liberal would be to understate things by quite a bit. Virginians can hardly turn on their television or radio these days without seeing or hearing the L-word in reference to Kaine,…

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…