Va. Democrats celebrate party gains
Democratic leaders rejoiced yesterday over their election successes but were warned not to let up next year when Virginia elects its next governor.
"We can't take our foot off the gas," Charlie Kelly, executive director of Gov. Timothy M. Kaine's political committee, Moving Virginia Forward, told the Democratic Party of Virginia's state central committee.
The jubilant mood at the Doubletree Hotel in suburban Albemarle County was in stark contrast to the mood 100-plus miles away, where Republican leaders were pointing fingers at one another trying to assess blame for the Nov. 4 election results.
Part of the Democrats' successes can be attributed to money. James S. Turpin, vice chairman of finance for the state party, said the party raised a record $3.7 million in 2008. Turpin said the party raised an additional $2.4 million for the separate "coordinated campaign," which aided President-elect Barack Obama's Virginia effort, as well as those of Senate candidate Mark R. Warner and candidates for the House of Representatives. The party also received $6.8 million from Democratic national committees, he said.
Six Democratic congressional candidates raised $1 million or more and Warner raised $13 million, to Republican Jim Gilmore's $2 million. Turpin also said Virginians contributed $14 million to Obama's presidential campaign, the most ever.
Money was on the mind of one of the party's potential gubernatorial candidates, Terry McAuliffe of McLean.
McAuliffe, a former chairman of the Democratic National Committee and a prodigious fundraiser in Democratic circles, promised to raise large sums of money to help Democrats gain control of the House of Delegates as well as for his own bid, if he decides to run.
The party needs to win six additional House seats to gain control of the 100-member body. All House seats will be up for election next November.
McAuliffe said he will announce Jan. 7 whether he intends to take on state Sen. R. Creigh Deeds of Bath County and Del. Brian J. Moran of Alexandria for the Democratic nomination. He already has hired staff in preparation for a race.
Some Democrats wonder whether McAuliffe, a newcomer to Virginia politics, has the necessary experience to serve as governor. Moran and Deeds are legislative veterans, as is the Republican candidate, Attorney General Bob McDonnell.
"Maybe if we run somebody who hasn't been in the legislature, we will come up with different ideas," McAuliffe said.
McAuliffe, who said he has started 27 businesses and had accumulated enough wealth by the time he was 35 to retire from business and devote himself to the Democratic Party, said he would go after high-wage, high-employment businesses, such as BMW, if he is elected governor. He said the state has not been able to attract such businesses because it is reluctant to offer substantial tax incentives.
He also would promote high-speed rail, using public-private partnerships, he said.
Deeds also addressed the party leaders. He said he already has proved he can be competitive by losing to McDonnell by only 360 votes in 2005 in the race for attorney general.
"Now is not the time to retrench," Deeds said. If elected governor, he would make his first priority creating jobs by improving the transportation system and attracting clean-energy firms to the state, he said.
To ease traffic congestion, he has proposed giving tax credits to companies that offer flex time or telecommuting to their employees, he said.
Moran had a family conflict and could not attend.
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