Virginia's state politicians will face the voters Tuesday for the first time since the historic battle over taxes in 2004, competing in primary campaigns that are testing the depth of the public's anger over that fight and its willingness to accept higher taxes for more public services.
The political stakes are highest for the state's Republican Party, whose membership fractured during the extended legislative debate over Democratic Gov. Mark R. Warner's plan to increase taxes. But his party, too, is carefully navigating the issue of taxes and spending as its candidates seek advantage in the Nov. 8 general election.
Six GOP lawmakers who bucked party orthodoxy to support the tax increases are the targets of anti-tax challengers. The two Republicans seeking the nomination for lieutenant governor have clashed repeatedly over who is the bigger tax cutter. And one Democrat has derided as a "gimmick" the homeowner tax relief proposed by her party's candidate for governor.
"They are all talking about taxes as if it were the Holy Grail and there's nothing else that matters," said J. Scott Leake, executive director of a political committee formed by the state's top GOP senators.
Leake said such anti-tax crusaders as Grover Norquist of Americans for Tax Reform are "trying to ride the echo [of the 2004 battle] for all it's worth. We know their views are widespread. We'll just see how deep. How long do people really stay mad?"
Throughout the weekend, candidates made a final push toward Tuesday's primary. Former attorney general Jerry W. Kilgore, who is running for the GOP nomination for governor against Warrenton Mayor George B. Fitch, spent yesterday afternoon at a Fairfax County festival.
Prince William County Board Chairman Sean T. Connaughton, who is running for the GOP nomination to be lieutenant governor, dropped by the Braemar Blasters swim meet yesterday morning and shook hands with parents while their children, clad in red and black Speedos, adjusted their bug-eyed goggles and dived into the pool to the sound of whistle blasts.
Todd Skiles, 34, a member of the Braemar homeowners association, said he's supporting Connaughton because of his record on transportation.
"If you're going to build houses, you have to bring us roads," Skiles said, adding he believes that people in Prince William don't mind being taxed more if they think they will get services. "It's not like these things are going to magically improve."
A few miles away, a group of 15 supporters of Connaughton's opponent, Sen. Bill Bolling (R-Hanover), met in the parking lot of a Safeway and gathered pamphlets to distribute across the county.
"This is the most important race for conservatives this year," said Richard E. Hendrix, 47, chairman of the Prince William Taxpayers Alliance. "We just need to get principled conservatives in statewide office."
For Virginia voters, the outcomes of this year's races are anything but academic. Tuesday's primary is the beginning of a process that will end in early November with the chance for a wholesale replacement of the politicians who decide how many roads to build, how many police officers to hire and how much teachers will get paid.
