The gubernatorial race is in full swing this month as the three major candidates prepare for Election Day in November. Democratic nominee Tim Kaine and Republican contender Jerry Kilgore faced off Saturday in a debate at the Virginia Bar Association meeting in White Sulphur Springs, W.Va. -- the third of four debates scheduled between the two candidates.
Independent candidate H. Russell Potts, Jr., a four-term Republican state senator from Winchester, did not participate in the debate, as Kilgore refuses to attend events which include Potts, according to the Kilgore campaign.
According to Politics Prof. Larry Sabato, who attended the event, both Kaine and Kilgore did well.
"Kilgore did much better than he's ever done before in a debate," Sabato said. "Kaine was a little restrained and was not as aggressive as he usually is."
According to Kaine's press secretary Delacey Skinner, the campaign feels very positive about the outcome of the debate.
"It was a really good opportunity for the Lieutenant governor to talk about some of the real differences between the governor that he would be and the kind of governor that Kilgore would be," Skinner said. "Most importantly, [Kaine] has a vision and a plan to move Virginia forward and keep it on the right track, while Kilgore would take the state back."
Tucker Martin, a spokesperson for Kilgore, said the campaign feels very good about the West Virginia debate.
"Jerry Kilgore laid out his vision for honest reform and contrasted with his opponent's inconsistency," Martin said. "There's a clear difference between Jerry Kilgore and Tim Kaine and that was evident on the stage. One is consistent and other doesn't know what he stands for."
A major point of contention between the campaigns concerns who can participate in the debates. Kilgore refused to attend the West Virginia debate if Potts attended, and has not accepted invitations to any other debates which include Potts.
"Jerry Kilgore believes that those who should be involved in the debates are those who can win [the election]," Martin said.
Despite Kilgore's assertions that Potts has no chance of winning, the senator says he feels victory is not out of the question and Kilgore's refusal stems for his poor public speaking skills.
"He's showing a cowardly, unprincipled approach," Potts said. "He lacks courage and confidence. His whole campaign operation is scripted. We've gotten 62 positive editorials from liberal, independent, and conservative newspapers all across Virginia. I'm the best public speaker and the best campaigner."
According to Sabato, though, Potts's campaign may help Kilgore in the end.
"Potts is running so far to the left on subjects like gay adoption and abortion that he may take more votes from Kaine than Kilgore," Sabato said.
Potts's candidacy has already cost him the support of the Virginia Republican Party, which ousted him from their ranks earlier this year, calling his run for governor a "betrayal." Potts has refused to resign from the party, insisting they have no authority to remove him from the party to which his father, grandfather and great-grandfather belonged.
At this time, Kilgore has accepted only one other debate invitation, hosted by the Fairfax County Chamber of Commerce in Vienna, an event currently scheduled to be air only in Northern Virginia. According to Martin, however, he is certain there will be a televised debate as the debating scheduling is still under negotiation.
Potts has accepted 10 invitations for debates, and Kaine will attend 15 total debates.
All of the campaigns indicated that education will be a major issue in the fall.
According to Skinner, Kaine supports the Higher Education Restructuring Act, a bill passed last year to provide more autonomy to state universities, and plans to continue educational initiatives begun under current Gov. Mark Warner's term.
"Over the past four years, Governor Mark Warner and Kaine have been working together to make sure the state is fully funding education," Skinner said. "He wants to continue to fight for education. Kilgore has made clear he will fight against it."
Martin, however, said that Kilgore also supports the Higher Education Restructuring Act and will make education a priority.
"Certainly education is a critical issue," Martin said. "Jerry Kilgore's Better Pay for Better Teacher's plan has been getting a lot of support from teachers and parents around the state."
Potts, however, says he is the most committed to education as the current chairman of the state senate education committee and cited his work on the Higher Education Restructuring Act.
"Neither Kaine nor Kilgore have given firm positions about higher education," Potts said. "Neither played a role at all. I took leadership position on [the Higher Education Restructuring Act]. either of them even attended committee meetings to speak for or against it. They were no shows."
Both Potts and Kilgore's campaign also indicated that transportation will be a major focus of the campaigns in the coming months.
According to Sabato, however, the race will probably not be defined by any single issue.
"There may not be one key issue," Sabato said. "This is a potpourri election, a cafeteria election and voters are going to load lots of different issue on their plates as they make up their minds."
All of the candidates plan to hold campaign events in the Charlottesville and Albemarle area in the coming months, and both Potts and Kilgore, avid Virginia football fans, will attend a number of games here in the fall.
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