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Our View
A 3-way race?
The end of the 2004 session of the Virginia
General Assembly — when it finally came —
was marked by an extended fight over the state budget, or more accurately, the tax increases that Gov. Mark Warner and the Democrats pushed through with the support of a few Republicans.
While the 2005 session ended on schedule, the big news was that Sen. H. Russell Potts Jr. (R-27th), one of those Republicans who lined up with Warner, was breaking from his party to run as an Independent.
In what was expected to be a close race between former Attorney General Jerry Kilgore (R) and Lt. Governor Tim Kaine (D) anyway, Potts’ candidacy will no doubt have an effect on the outcome of the November general election.
What this impact will be depends on who’s talking.
The folks on Kilgore’s campaign — who have chosen to ignore the possible competition in the primary by our own Warrenton Mayor George Fitch — certainly took notice when Potts announced last Friday. But they think that Potts will take votes from Kaine, because they share similar “liberal beliefs.”
Others feel that Potts a moderate when compared to many other Republican legislators — will pull votes from Kilgore, a conservative who was on the losing side in last year’s tax debacle.
Several Republicans have already come forward to denounce Potts, but those who know him are aware of why he made this decision, and how painful it has been.
Simply put, Potts is running on principle: He feels his party has moved too far to the right. And he is not alone.
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