Lynchburg’s hotly contested House of Delegates race between Del. Shannon Valentine and Republican Scott Garrett, with controversy swirling about the tenor and truthfulness of campaign ads, doesn’t surprise veteran observers.
A struggling economy, a Republican resurgence in statewide polls and flowing campaign dollars from the state and national levels have brought an intensity not seen in years to the 23rd District contest between Garrett and Valentine, D-Lynchburg.
“There seems to be more interest this year than ever before that I can recall,” said Marie Waller, president of Lynchburg’s League of Women Voters and a longtime teacher.
“I think maybe the economy is causing it,” Waller said. “When times are hard, people look for a change, hoping things will get better.”
Vance Wilkins, who once represented Amherst County in Richmond and served as Speaker of the House, compared today’s times to Bill Clinton’s 1992 presidential win over George Bush during a recession.
“When Clinton was running, he said, ‘It’s the economy, stupid’ when he beat Bush.
“I think it still is,” said Wilkins, who is backing Garrett. (Clinton used the “stupid” phrase daily to remind himself to stay on message.)
The economy isn’t reflected in the candidates’ campaign treasuries.
Valentine has raised almost $300,000, and she was the best-funded Democrat in all of Virginia’s House races as of Sept. 30. Garrett has raised almost $260,000, including his primary-election contest with fellow City Councilman Jeff Helgeson.
Mike Harrington, a former Lynchburg Republican party chairman who ran against Valentine four years ago, said voters’ frustration with deficit spending in Washington could affect the Lynchburg race.
“It gives people an opportunity to vent their frustration and anger by punishing a local candidate,” Harrington said.
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Stump speeches by Garrett usually begin with the concerns he hears from people as he knocks on doors in his campaign rounds.
Valentine uses a similar theme. “We are living in difficult times,” are often her first words to an audience.
That’s where similarities end between Valentine and Garrett.
Garrett is unleashing an almost-daily stream of mailed brochures saying Valentine wants to raise taxes. As evidence, Garrett cites her answers about revenues that might finance $1 billion for roads on a questionnaire from Virginia FREE, a business advocacy group.
In response, Clayton Roberts, president of Virginia FREE, issued this statement: “The questionnaire does not ask candidates whether they would support a tax increase for transportation. To assert otherwise is deliberately misleading.”
Bert Dodson, a Lynchburg city councilman and president of Dodson Pest Control, said his company is a member of Virginia FREE.
It is unusual for Roberts, who “is completely non-partisan, to be quoted so much” in a political campaign, said Dodson, who supports Valentine.
“It gives Lynchburg a negative characterization, by Scott being so inaccurate,” Dodson said.
Valentine, in addition to saying the brochures “do not tell the truth,” also says state legislators have cut Virginia’s budget four times the past two years without raising taxes.
“Somebody would be out of his mind to raise a tax” in this economy, she said.
The questionnaire can be seen at http://shannonvalentine.net. Click on “Setting the record straight.”
Waller, whose group sponsored a candidates’ forum last week that attracted almost 200 people, said the TV ads and mailers from Valentine and Garrett cause a visceral reaction.
The ads “either make people happy or angry,” she said.
“You’re either happy to see that, or you think, ‘This is ridiculous,’” Waller said.
Harrington and Wilkins said they didn’t see anything unusual about the race.
“The challenger has to define the differences” between the candidates, and that’s often done by using negative tactics, Harrington said.
To Wilkins, it’s politics as usual.
“This is a typical race between a person of a liberal bent and a person of conservative bent. It’s as typical as you can get,” Wilkins said.
Valentine and her supporters say Garrett has bent the truth.
Garrett says he hasn’t. “I’ve exposed her record,” he often says.
Former state Sen. Elliot Schewel, a Valentine supporter, said he thought the “acid test” for the accuracy of Garrett’s tax-raising comments came when Roberts called them misleading.
“Even after the guy came out with that very strong denial of Garrett’s allegation he continued to do it. I couldn’t believe it,” Schewel said.
Wendell Walker, a former chairman of Lynchburg’s Republican Party committee, said, “You’ve got to remember, this is politics, and every word people say can be interpreted in different ways.”
A better point, Walker said, is Valentine’s voting record. “The fact stands that she did support some tax increases,” Walker said.
One tax increase that went into effect, from House Bill 3202 in 2006, raised taxes on diesel fuel by 1 ½ cents. Valentine voted for the bill on final passage. Garrett has cited other votes by Valentine on tax proposals that never became law.
The accusations about tax increases mostly fall into “a gray area,” faculty members at two Lynchburg colleges said in separate interviews.
Stephen Witham, who teaches at the Helms School of Government at Liberty University, said he reviewed some of the campaign rhetoric and read over the Virginia FREE questionnaire on Valentine’s Web site.
“I read through the thing and tried to sift out what they are saying, and what I came up with, when you ask ‘how much truth is there,’ it becomes sort of a gray area,” Witham said.
“I wouldn’t use the word ‘lying’ for anybody, but some of these things leave open the possibility of how you want to read what you’re looking at,” Witham said.
“She’s saying we’ve got to generate another $1 billion” for roads, Witham said. “Then you figure, ‘that doesn’t necessarily mean you favor a tax increase.’ But, where are we going to get (the revenue)?” Witham said his comments were influenced partly by his own experience dealing with government budget cuts as a member of the Amherst County library board.
Paula Youra, who teaches a course in political rhetoric at Lynchburg College, said campaign advertising doesn’t provide enough information to help people decide between candidates.
“There are so many different shades of gray when they talk about the issues” in brochures and commercials, Youra said.
“Nobody is bald-faced lying, but there’s a part of the political process that allows rhetoric to drift across several different lines of meaning,” she said.
Mailed brochures, especially, deliver one-sided messages, Youra said.
“What has to happen for the consumer to fully understand who offers the ideas they like best is the old-fashioned plan: Go hear the candidate speak in person,” she said.
Scott Garrett bio
- Grew up in Lynchburg and graduated from E.C. Glass High School in 1974.
- Received bachelor’s degree in economics in 1978 and medical-doctor degree in 1984 from the University of Virginia.
- Practiced as a general surgeon in Lynchburg from 1989 through 2004. Retired after suffering heart attack.
- Elected to an at-large seat on Lynchburg City Council in 2006. Term expires in June.
- Born in Wilmington, Del.
- Received bachelor’s degree in economics from the University of Virginia in 1981.
- Worked as an associate vice president of communications with Equifax, an information company based in Atlanta.
- Moved to Lynchburg in 1990. Worked with Lynchburg Neighborhood Development Foundation, and served as chapter president of Habitat for Humanity.
- Elected to House of Delegates in 2006. Second term expires in January.
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