Showdown in November 2001-New Jersey and Virginia
There are two major races for governor this November, and the GOP could suffer losses in both New Jersey and Virginia.
New Jersey must replace Christie Todd Whitman -- the moderate female Republican who resigned earlier this year to head the EPA for President Bush.
Instead of running a moderate to replace her, the Republicans have the ultra-conservative Bret Schundler, former Mayor of Jersey City.
“Schundler has staked out extremely conservative positions,” which have split the state GOP and energized opponents, political analyst John Kohut explains. For example, Schundler equates pro-choice advocates with Nazis, has a horrible environmental record and (in this heavily unionized state) has backed “Right-to-Work (for less)” laws and measures to limit labor’s political rights.
“He’s going to drag us all down,” one state GOP leader was heard to moan.
Meanwhile, Democratic candidate Jim McGreevy, of Woodbridge, NJ, has cruised along with a comfortable 19-point lead. A Mayor, like Schundler,
McGreevy has served in both the state Senate and Assembly and is well-known and well-liked. In the 1997 governor’s race, McGreevy came within one percentage point of knocking off Christie Whitman.
“McGreevy has avoided any sort of fiascos or major missteps, he has plenty of money and the Democrats are very unified behind him,” says Kohut.
Mark Warner is a wealthy young Virginia businessman. His campaign focuses on jobs and a balanced program of investment and economic development.
Since running for the U.S. Senate in 1997 and losing badly in the countryside, “Warner has spent a lot of time in the rural areas, getting to know and getting known by the voters, and he appears to be doing quite well there. No statewide Democrat has run well in the rural areas of Virginia in quite a long time,” notes Kohut.
Republican Mark Early’s candidacy, meanwhile, has sputtered in this Republican-leaning state. After a tough primary fight, Early wasted months in an unsuccessful bid to paint Warner as a dangerous ultra-liberal, according to Kohut.
But Early has served in the Virginia Senate, is the State Attorney General and “you certainly can’t dismiss him. Virginia is a conservative state that trends Republican,” Kohut observes. But Warner has maintained his lead in the polls since Labor Day and “He’s the best shot the Demo-crats have had in Virginia for years,” says Kohut.
Previous Page/Contents/Next Page