Jerry W. Kilgore wants to one-up the last Republican who sought to become Virginia's governor and do more than just win in Northern Virginia's outer belt of suburbia.
He wants to win big.
Jerry W. Kilgore, left, talks to a former classmate, Greg Wagner of Purcellville, after Kilgore, the former Virginia attorney general and Republican gubernatorial candidate, gave a speech at the Loudoun County Courthouse.
(Ricky Carioti -- The Washington Post)
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Kilgore, who spoke to crowds in three such communities yesterday as part of his statewide campaign kickoff tour, said fellow Republican Mark L. Earley suffered in his unsuccessful race against Gov. Mark R. Warner (D) four years ago because he "eked" out wins in such Republican strongholds as Loudoun, Prince William and Fauquier counties.
"It was a margin issue with Mark Earley. He didn't win them by the margins that you need to win them by to move forward," said Kilgore, the former attorney general.
In 2001, Earley carried Loudoun by 7.6 percentage points and Prince William by 5.6. Warner took far more populous Fairfax County by almost 10 percentage points and solidly Democratic Arlington by close to 40 points.
With thousands of families pouring into new developments well outside the Capital Beltway, Kilgore said, demographics favor a more impressive outcome for him this time around.
To illustrate the point, he was flanked for a morning speech at Leesburg's historic courthouse by a bevy of elected officials from the area -- three state delegates, a county supervisor, the commissioner of the revenue, the sheriff -- all Republicans.
"We've got huge growth going on in the suburbs of Virginia that cause the areas to trend very Republican," Kilgore said in an interview. "All of these counties were traditionally Democrat counties. They've all swung in the past 10 years to being solid, dependable Republican counties."
About 70 supporters greeted Kilgore in Loudoun, wearing bright orange T-shirts, waving signs with his name and listening to his address, which was virtually identical to that given in other communities the former prosecutor from Southwest Virginia has visited this week.
He touted his "honest reform" platform for state governing, including a plan to limit how quickly property tax assessments rise to 5 percent a year and a promise to put any proposals to increase the sales, gas or income tax to a voter referendum.
Kilgore is not the only one looking at margins of victories in these Republican-leaning counties.
Visiting supporters in the same area last week, Democratic candidate Timothy M. Kaine argued that the dynamics of growing counties are fluid. Kaine, the lieutenant governor, said he would find support among families there who approve of last year's General Assembly action to raise taxes and pour new funds into public schools. "I want to win these counties. I'm going to do everything I can to win them. But frankly, I win them if I just soften the margin," he said.
With both candidates looking to mine votes in the area, the result will be an especially heated battle over votes in Northern Virginia's newest suburbs, said Del. Richard H. Black (R-Loudoun). "The campaign's really going to be decided in the outer belt," he said.
Black, who is deeply engaged in conservative social causes, said they will be the key to the region. He said the election will be decided by voters like his young assistant, a Loudoun resident who was standing nearby holding her newborn after Kilgore's speech.
"You have young families going out to the suburbs to buy a house with a swing set and a yard and a dog," he said. "They're more concerned about the moral fabric of society."
Kaine has said his personal religious beliefs lead him to oppose abortion and the death penalty, but if elected, he would uphold the law by supporting a woman's right to choose and enforcing capital punishment. Kilgore emphasized his longtime support for the death penalty yesterday and said voters will find the two candidates have "big differences" on those issues.
On taxes, Kilgore's supporters said suburban voters will welcome tax referendums.
Speaking by cell phone while stuck in traffic on Route 29 on Thursday, Brian Murphy, chairman of the Prince William County Republican Committee, said that people he knows were dismayed that taxes were raised last year but that the state's road network was not improved. Warner had pushed for transportation initiatives as part of his budget, but a compromise plan that emerged from a 115-day legislative standoff included no new money for roads.
"They won't call it a tax hike. They'll call it an investment. If you want to use that terminology, that's fine. But start investing in my roads," Murphy said. "I don't think Tim Kaine's got anything to sell in the outer 'burbs that people want."
Kilgore will face Warrenton Mayor George B. Fitch in the Republican primary June 14. The general election is Nov. 8.
