Lt. Governor Candidate in Va. Relishes Role of Underdog

Baskerville Stresses Core Democratic Values

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.

"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.

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 companies 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 black students 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 might 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."