Endorsed: Putney, Cline and Valentine

Voters in the 23rd District are fortunate to have two qualified candidates to choose from: Shannon Valentine and Scott Garrett.

Republican Scott Garrett has a long, distinguished record of productive public service: a small-businessman and doctor, community volunteer and member of the Lynchburg City Council. The News & Advance has been, and will continue to be, a supporter of his in Central Virginia.

Del. Valentine’s extensive Richmond experience, seniority in the General Assembly and lack of a capital learning curve are invaluable assets to Central Virginia.

The News & Advance editorial board believes Del. Valentine’s record over the past four years in office makes her more than worthy of re-election. We lend our endorsement to her for a third term in the General Assembly.

Because of his potential for future contributions, we hope Garrett stays involved in civic affairs for many years to come, but the campaign he ran against Del. Valentine was painful to observe. It simply was not the Scott Garrett the people of Central Virginia have known for years.

Valentine’s core values synch nicely with ours and with the district’s.

On business issues, economic development, education and transportation, she has a solid record of accomplishment that makes her a valued leader in the state capital.

* She is a strong supporter of the small business community, earning the endorsement of one of the nation’s premier business advocacy groups, the National Federation of Independent Businesses. She understands the challenges of small-businessowners to do right by their employees and the struggles many face daily to stay in operation.

She was one of the main proponents of legislation in the General Assembly to allow the smallest of small businesses to offer bare-bones health insurance packages to their employees. As a delegate, she’s also championed numerous incentive programs targeted to small businesses in the commonwealth.

* She is unequivocal in her support of Virginia’s right-to-work law.

Valentine quite correctly sees the commonwealth’s right-to-work law as one of the most important economic development tools, and she has been adamant in her support of the law.

No individual in the commonwealth can be forced to join a workplace union in order to hold a job. No business or workforce can have a union foisted upon them by fiat, thanks to backing by any state or federal law.

Valentine knows how important this issue to the business community and has worked to protect the Virginia’s right-to-work law from any possible encroachment by Congress, such as the infamous “card-check” legislation. She will continue to do so.

* On transportation issues, Shannon Valentine has not only “talked the talk,” but she has actually delivered.

One of the most important successes of her time in office has been the addition of a new Amtrak line that begins in Lynchburg and connects Central Virginia directly to the nation’s economically powerful Northeast Corridor.

Valentine is well aware of the challenge the state confronts to stay ahead of the highway curve. Virginia’s highways currently are in need of at least $1 billion a year just to meet regular maintenance needs, and that doesn’t even take into consideration the new construction needs of regions such as Northern Virginia and Tidewater.

She has demonstrated a willingness to explore all options to address this critical economic need, something desperately needed in Richmond.

On a host of other issues, Valentine has been an effective representative in Richmond: more than $30 million in state money for Lynchburg’s combined sewer overflow project, protection of Central Virginia Training Center and its residents and working to lighten the tax burdens on the most vulnerable of Virginia’s families.

Both Valentine and Garrett are good people who have much to contribute to Central Virginia and the commonwealth. On Nov. 3, there will be no losers on the field, only winners all around.

* * *

Two other local delegates also face opposition this November, albeit much less spirited than in the 23rd District: Dels. Lacey Putney, I-Bedford, in the 19th District and Ben Cline, R-Amherst, in the 24th District.

* Lacey Putney is Central Virginia’s most powerful voice in the state capital, bar none. He’s been a member of the Assembly since 1962 and serves as chairman of the House Appropriations Committee and as a budget conferee.

As the longest-serving legislator in the history of the commonwealth, he knows state government inside and out, making him an invaluable asset to this part of Virginia and all its residents.

The News & Advance strongly and enthusiastically endorses Putney for a new term in the House.

* Ben Cline has been a member of the House for more than seven years, representing a complex district that stretches from Lexington to Amherst County.

He has been an able, hardworking, dilligent legislator, a legislator who believes that being there for his constituents to make government work is as important as a long list of legislation introduced and passed.

As such, he’s a valued member of the Central Virginia delegation, and The News & Advance urges his re-election in November.