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WEDNESDAY | 10.9.2013 | MaceandCROWN.COM | Vol. 56, Issue 7

RACE TO RICHMOND

Virginia Gubernatorial Election Fast Approaching By: Derek Page Editor-in-Chief Mace & Crown The Virginia gubernatorial election is just weeks away. With incumbent governor Bob McDonnell ineligible for re-election, the Commonwealth will make a pivotal decision for Virginia’s future on Nov. 5. Candidates on the ballot include Democrat Terry McAuliffe, Republican Ken Cuccinelli and Libertarian Robert Sarvis. McAuliffe, a businessman and former chairman of the Democratic National Committee, and Cuccinelli, Virginia’s current attorney general, were the only candidates in their party to file to run by the deadline. Sarvis was nominated by his party at the Libertarian Party of Virginia convention in April after submitting 7,000 signatures over the 10,000 required for candidacy. This makes him the fourth minor party gubernatorial nominee to get on the Virginia ballot in 40 years. In a Washington Post/ABT-SRBI Virginia Governor’s Race Poll released in September, McAuliffe leads Cuccinelli 49 to 44, but republican voters appear more adamant about their candidate. 76 percent said they

are “very enthusiastic” about Cuccinelli compared to 68 percent for McAuliffe. Still, McAuliffe leads in every subject the survey addresses. Much of McAuliffe’s lead comes from women. The democrat’s campaign ads have repeatedly attacked Cuccinelli as someone who will impede their rights. In the poll, 48 percent said they trust McAuliffe to “do a better job of handling issues of special concern to women. Only 25 percent believe Cuccinelli is trustworthy. Among surveyed registered voters, the majority trusts McAuliffe will do a better job handling abortion, healthcare, taxes, energy and the environment. Cuccinelli ties his opponent on transportation, jobs creation and understanding the economic problems of Virginians Incidentally, 33 percent of those surveyed said they usually think of themselves as democrat, 26 percent as republican, and 34 percent as independent. Virginians aren’t completely sold on either candidate. Both have been blemished with scandal. Cuccinelli felt the pressure following a larger scandal involving incumbent governor Bob McDonnell accepting large monetary gifts from an executive at Star Scientific, a technology-oriented healthy life-

style company. Cuccinelli donated $18,000 to charity in September as remorseful recompense. McAuliffe suffered backlash after nonprofit watchdog group Cause of Action discovered he was the founder and largest individual shareholder in a new electric-car company GreenTech.

The company released a confidential memorandum in March to prospective investors promising they would enjoy “billions” in government subsidies and tax credits in addition to having McAuliffe as a “chairman emeritus” with powerful political pedigree. The first survey by Public Policy Polling

since January found more and more voters are becoming undecided in a classic “lesserof-two-evils” election. Where 29 percent of voters have a favorable opinion of McAuliffe, 33 percent have a negative one. Similarly, where 44 percent of voters have an unpopular opinion of Cuccinelli, only 32 percent hold a favorable opinion of the attorney general. “The Governor’s race is shaping up exactly as expected- voters don’t care for either Ken Cuccinelli or Terry McAuliffe,” said Dean Debnam, President of Public Policy Polling. “But at this point they have a bigger problem with Cuccinelli than they do with McAuliffe.” As voters vacillate, libertarian Sarvis continues to rack up points, standing at 12 percent in the latest poll by POLITICO and the PPP. In the wake of a government shutdown, this election is leaving many Virginians apprehensive. Both major candidates have spoken out against the shutdown, yet both are at each other’s throats with accusing the other of contrary actions. Nearly 64 percent of Virginia voters who oppose the government shutdown support McAuliffe while 16 percent support Cuccinelli. Those in support of the shutdown

favor Cuccinelli over McAuliffe, 73 percent to 10 percent. Cuccinelli has been strident in his disapproval of the Affordable Care Act, but 50 percent of surveyed Virginian’s blame congressional Republicans for the shutdown and 35 percent blame President Obama and Senate Democrats. While each side is likely to blame the other, independent voters blame republicans over democrats, 48 percent to 33 percent. McAuliffe and Cuccinelli will have their third and final debate on Oct. 24 at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Virginia. In a state with many military and government workers, this election is vital to its prosperity. Regardless of who is elected the 72nd governor of Virginia, a clear, economically efficacious plan is what many in the Commonwealth are craving. “Fortunately for everyone,” wrote Huffington Post political reporter Jason Linkins in an opinion column in May, “despite the fact that Virginia’s transportation infrastructure spending remains a contentious issue statewide, there’s still a good chance that there will be several decently maintained highways by which residents may leave the Commonwealth after November.”


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