Primaries crucial in 55th, 69th district races

Cox McGuire Burch Brown Carr Green

Candidates in two primaries in the Richmond area are relying on tired feet and sore knuckles, rather than big media campaigns, to get the attention of voters in primary elections Tuesday.

Because the 55th House of Delegates district is heavily Republican and the 69th is heavily Democratic, primary wins are considered tantamount to victory in the fall.

In Republican-leaning Hanover County, the retirement of Del. Frank D. Hargrove Sr. after 28 years representing the 55th in the General Assembly drew interest from two businessmen and a prosecutor.

John A. Cox of Hanover, Rusty McGuire of Hanover and Jerry Burch of Mechanicsville are vying in one of the few Republican primaries Tuesday.

The Democratic primary in the 69th House district, which consists of portions of south Richmond and Chesterfield County, also has attracted three candidates. They are Carlos Brown, a corporate finance lawyer, Richmond School Board member Betsy Carr and Antione Green, president of the Richmond Crusade for Voters. Del. Franklin P. Hall, a Democrat, represented the district for 33 years before retiring to become one of three Alcoholic Beverage Control commissioners who oversee the state's liquor monopoly.

In the Republican contest in the Hanover district, few issues have developed, because the candidates mostly agree.

Cox founded Cox Transportation Services in 1982. It has grown into a cross-country trucking company that employs 300 people. He emphasizes his business experience.

McGuire is chief deputy commonwealth's attorney in Louisa County. A veteran of the Iraq War, he also was a deputy in the Attorney General's office under GOP gubernatorial candidate Bob McDonnell.

He is making much of his prosecutorial experience. He unsuccessfully sought the GOP nomination to run for commonwealth's attorney in Hanover in 2007.

Burch settled in Hanover seven years ago after 20 years in the Navy and working as a budget analyst for the Defense Department. He runs a small business, Atlee Solutions, in Mechanicsville. He stresses his budgeting experience.

Cox has been endorsed by most of the political leaders in Hanover and by Rep. Eric I. Cantor, R-7th. The senior Hargrove is staying neutral. McGuire has been endorsed by a number of legislators outside of Hanover.

The 55th House of Delegates district covers western and northern Hanover.

In the Democratic primary in the 69th District, which has an African-American majority, Brown estimates that by Tuesday, he and his team will have knocked on close to 8,000 doors.

When someone answers, Brown's pitch starts with job creation, economic development and help for small businesses. He thinks community revitalization will spur jobs, business opportunity and safer schools.

"Where there is no economy, people will create one. Drug economy, crime economy, people will find out a way to survive," said Brown, who last year ran unsuccessfully for the party's nomination for the 70th District House seat to succeed Dwight C. Jones, now Richmond's mayor.

Carr, a Richmond School Board member since 2006, says her time on the board has given her perspective on what comes down from the state level -- like funding.

She thinks the state's funding formula for local school divisions hurts areas like Richmond, and she'd like to see such school divisions receive more money. Her schools work has also given her perspective on other needs, she said, like graduating an educated work force and the importance of vocational training.

"I'm a grass-roots person," she said. "I've just been working with the people for a long time. I think that my experience, my maturity, an ability to listen and respond to people" makes her best suited for the seat.

Green, who is on a temporary leave of absence from his Crusade post, was an active member of the group that advocated for a charter school to open in the city's mothballed Patrick Henry Elementary School.

He wants to work with Richmond companies to encourage development for new and expanded business operations, boost revitalization of the Northern Midlothian and Hull Street Business Corridors and propose tax cuts for using solar panels or wind turbines.

"I hope to bring my years of experience as a community leader to the General Assembly," he writes in a mailer.

The winners of both primaries will face opposition in the general election.

Contact Olympia Meola at (804) 649-6061 or omeola@timesdispatch.com.

Contact Tyler Whitley at (804) 649-6780 or twhitley@timesdispatch.com.