Tight GOP Primary Centers on Tax Stand Of Fairfax Delegate

Del. Gary A. Reese walked the streets of his Northern Virginia district this weekend, reminding constituents to vote in his hotly contested Republican primary with Chris S. Craddock, a youth minister.

After pleasantries were exchanged and he asked several voters in Fairfax County how they liked their newly repaved street, Reese added a personal plea, as if the neighbors standing before him held the balance of the election in their hands.

"I need your help," he said under the hot sun Saturday morning. "It's a primary, and every vote counts. I need your help."

Reese, 60, is in a tough battle with Craddock, 26, who has mounted a spirited challenge against the two-term Fairfax delegate. At issue for both candidates in tomorrow's primary is the direction of the Republican Party in Virginia.

Much of the debate between the candidates has focused on the decision by Reese and a group of other House Republicans to buck their party's anti-tax stand in last year's General Assembly session. Six of those maverick delegates face primaries that involve debates on taxes and such social issues as abortion.

Virginia and New Jersey are the only states with major elections this year. In Virginia, the primaries are the first chance to gauge voter reaction to last year's legislative debate over taxes and services, and the results will be of interest to politicians across the country as they prepare their issues for future campaigns. The Republicans also are holding primaries for governor and attorney general. Republicans and Democrats have primaries for lieutenant governor.

Political observers consider the race in Reese's 67th District, which comprises western Fairfax and a small part of eastern Loudoun County, to be one of the closest House contests.

They regard the district as conservative. The 67th, which covers some of the fastest-growing Washington suburbs, contains a part of Fairfax that voted for President Bush in 2004 when the county went for the Democrat, Sen. John F. Kerry (Mass.). It also is one that traditionally has supported Republican candidates for statewide office.

"This is not a liberal district," Craddock said. "We really have a chance to send a message."

Reese, a trial lawyer who served 10 years on the Fairfax County School Board, has sent out a mailer telling district voters that Craddock's brand of Republicanism is "reckless and extreme," saying his opponent's stance on the tax debate would have prevented schools from getting proper funding. Reese also said that Craddock, who has never held public office and does not belong to any civic groups, is inexperienced.

"I am a realistic conservative," Reese said as he walked through a neighborhood just a short drive from his house.

Craddock dismissed Reese's latest mailer as desperate, and he questioned the strategy in a primary in which many of the voters are likely to be conservative.