RICHMOND -- It had been a tough week for the candidate. But Del. Viola O. Baskerville, a Democrat who is running for her party's nomination for lieutenant governor, refused to be discouraged by news that two of her opponents had picked up important endorsements in key areas of the state.
"I've been here before," she said, "and the only endorsement that matters is that of the people." Baskerville was referring to support that Leslie L. Byrne, a former state senator from Fairfax County, had picked up from a Richmond civil rights organization and that Del. J. Chapman Petersen, also of Fairfax, had received from a House colleague in Hampton Roads.
Del. Viola O. Baskerville, at a candidates' forum last month. She says she would advocate for small businesses and would help firms owned by women and minorities win access to state contracts.
(James A. Parcell -- The Washington Post)
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"I've always been the underdog," said Baskerville, who as of March 31 had raised the least amount of money -- $202,150 -- in the race that also includes state Sen. Phillip P. Puckett (Russell). "But overcoming these obstacles strengthens me and makes me work harder."
She points to history as a guide. In her first campaign, a race for the Richmond City Council in 1994, local pundits thought Baskerville would lose badly to a veteran politician. She won. When she ran for the House of Delegates in 1997, she faced a former mayor who out-raised her and didn't take her seriously. She won again.
Now Baskerville, a four-term delegate, is running in the June 14 primary for the state's No. 2 job, championing core Democratic policies that have helped define her career. She said she would use her position as Virginia's first female lieutenant governor to be an advocate for small businesses and would help firms owned by women and minorities win access to state contracts.
Her platform also includes plans to create incentives for hospitals to reduce patient injuries and medical errors and to promote preventive medicine. Baskerville also would push to allow military families to receive in-state tuition and to make military spouses eligible for unemployment compensation.
"It's about being the voice of the voiceless," said Baskerville, whose solidly Democratic 71st District includes working-class parts of Richmond and middle-class sections of Henrico County. As a delegate, she helped pass bills that expanded Medicaid and job and vocational training programs for poor Virginians.
"My record is about opportunity for all people. . . . Those are the principles that guide my life," she said.
Baskerville, 53, said she has fought for underdogs because she knows their plight firsthand. She grew up the daughter of a carpenter and nurse's aide in segregated Richmond. She was one of a handful of blacks to attend the College of William and Mary in the 1970s and later graduated from the University of Iowa College of Law while raising a family.
Political observers have said she may be well-positioned geographically, as she is the only candidate from vote-rich central Virginia and could rally support in the black communities of Richmond and Hampton Roads.
One of Baskerville's challengers, however, said that representing her liberal-leaning district has not given her the necessary experience to run effectively statewide.
"If you're not in a battleground district . . . like many delegates are, you can't just go out and support every social program," said Petersen, who is positioning himself as a centrist candidate. "There's got to be a balance, and if you don't have the experience, that's a problem."
Baskerville pointed out that she would add diversity to the party's ticket. She also said that it is more important for Virginia Democrats to stay true to their "core values" than to shift positions to address perceived political and demographic changes in the state.
Baskerville caught the attention of Democratic leaders in the spring when she publicly criticized the central campaign promise of the party's gubernatorial candidate, Lt. Gov. Timothy M. Kaine, by calling his plan to offer real estate tax relief to homeowners "a gimmick."
"I just think we need to have a deeper discussion about these proposals . . . about what the long-term impacts will be," she said in an interview.
The delegate's critics have said that although she remains well-intentioned, she has not been successful in getting much of her legislation through the General Assembly. Many of the bills promoting her causes died in the Republican-controlled House.
"We had concerns about whether she had established a record of being able to build coalitions to get her legislation passed," said Warren Kennedy, chairman of the research committee for the Richmond Crusade for Voters, the city's oldest civil rights organization, which endorsed Byrne.
Baskerville's colleagues said that criticism is not fair, given that only 38 of the 100 House members are Democrats. "She may not have passed all of her legislation, but the attempt was made," said Del. Dwight Clinton Jones (D-Richmond), chairman of the Legislative Black Caucus. "That says something about her. She's been an effective delegate for her district."
Baskerville pointed out that she helped pass a bill that changed Richmond's charter so residents could directly elect their mayor. She said she is a tireless worker for issues important for her community even if the legislation doesn't pass.
"It's about determination," Baskerville said. "That's what people want from their public officials: to keep trying over and over again."
