Biggest Surprise The attorney general race produced the biggest

Biggest Surprise The attorney general race produced the biggest surprise in the statewide contests. Coleman, who hails from Staunton, is a mountainvalley Republican of moderate and, by Virginia standards, even liberal leanings. His upset victory over Democrat Edward E. Lane of Richmond was even more remarkable because Lane, a 24-year veteran of the House, was a pillar of the conservative establishment and was warmly endorsed by many of those who enthusiastically supported, both politically and financially, Coleman’s running mate, Republican John N. Dalton. The election for lieutenant governor was unique in the annals of Virginia politics. Democrat Charles S. Robb scored a landslide win over Republican Sen. A. Joe Canada of Virginia Beach, capturing nine of the 10 congressional districts. This in spite of the fact that Robb, who had never held public office before, had no public record on which to build a candidacy and, as a son-inlaw of the late former President Lyndon Johnson, was closely identified with the national Democratic party in the minds of many voters.

Robb’s win was based almost entirely on his personal appeal. At 38, he is a man of impressive appearance and bearing with a /ready wit and obviously strong intellectual endowments. He comes across as one who, in spite of supreme confidence in his won talents and being a part of a celebrated family, is selfeffacing and sincere. It is a devastating political combination.

In the governor’s race, Dalton’s win over Democrat Henry Howell was more than a victory by a conservative candidate over one who was more liberal. The liberalconservative issue alone might not have been enough to win for Dalton. After all, both Robb and Coleman stood, if only a few inches, to the left of their opponents, Canada and Lane.