Kaine won’t endorse in Democratic primary

With three Democrats lining up to run for Virginia governor next fall, none of the candidates should expect a holiday endorsement from the current occupant of the Executive Mansion.

"I'm going to be neutral in this race," Gov. Timothy M. Kaine, a fellow Democrat, said yesterday, referring to Del. Brian J. Moran of Alexandria, state Sen. R. Creigh Deeds of Bath County and former Democratic National Committee chairman Terry McAuliffe of McLean.

Deeds and Moran have announced their candidacies; McAuliffe has said he will formally disclose his intentions in January. Kaine's term expires in January 2010. Attorney General Bob McDonnell is expected to be the Republican nominee. The Democratic primary will be in June.

Kaine said having three candidates for a statewide office is a "sign of success" for Democrats in a traditionally Republican state like Virginia.

On Nov. 4, former Gov. Mark R. Warner, a Democrat, was elected to the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by retiring Sen. John W. Warner, R-Va.

He joins Sen. Jim Webb, who defeated Sen. George Allen, the Republican incumbent, in 2006.

Pending the results of a recount in the 5th Congressional District, Democrats appear to have picked up three seats in Virginia's House delegation, giving them six seats to the Republicans' five.

Now Kaine, the first governor outside Illinois to endorse the presidential campaign of Barack Obama, has substantial political clout. He is in no hurry to take sides, even if the men vying for his job want his blessing.

"I like all three of them," said Kaine, speaking on his monthly call-in radio show on WTOP in Northern Virginia.

"I know them all -- they're all good public servants."

Kaine, who said he told Obama that he would not leave the governor's office before his term expires, continued to be coy about his own political future.

He said he and his family intend to move back into their Richmond home when he leaves the Executive Mansion.

"After I'm governor, who knows?" he pondered. "We'll figure that out later."
Contact Jim Nolan at (804) 649-6061 or .