Kilgore's Record May Polarize Voters in Va.

"My emphasis is one of personal safety. Without having public safety, you're not going to have good jobs in your area. Without public safety, you're not going to have good schools. Everything hinges on public safety. If your streets aren't safe, you can debate no other issues the society faces," Kilgore said.

He cites his legislative record as evidence of his effectiveness. Scores of bills he supported as attorney general passed the General Assembly.

Democrats say Kilgore had a penchant for submitting "brochure bills," or proposals that sound tough but make little difference except on the campaign trail. They note Kilgore's support for applying racketeering statutes to Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) and other street gangs. Skeptics in the legislature say the state's conspiracy laws would have covered the problem. Murtaugh said the move was requested by, and will help, law enforcement.

Joseph V. Gartlan Jr., a retired Democratic senator from Fairfax County who first sparred with Kilgore in the early 1990s, said Kilgore had an undistinguished record that reflected a political agenda. "Kilgore can't seem to recognize the fact that the attorney general of Virginia is not a criminal prosecutor," Gartlan said. "He was fighting partisan fights. Lawyers are supposed to be rising above the political currents when they are holding enforcement jobs."

But Jim Rich, chairman of a state Republican Party district that covers parts of Northern Virginia, said the portrait of Kilgore as a partisan grandstander is wrong. Instead, Kilgore has demonstrated a modesty and judiciousness that let him rise above even the squabbles within his party, Rich said.

"He's level-headed and is not going to be spooked by something," Rich said. "He looks you in the eye when he's talking to you, not like a lot of these guys, who are looking over your shoulder to see if there's anyone better. I hate that."

Kilgore's statewide profile rose significantly when Allen tapped him to be secretary of public safety when he was 32. Kilgore points to his work in helping pass Allen's popular sentencing overhaul through the Democrat-controlled legislature in 1994 as the best example of his governing style.

Allen proposed the elimination of most parole even before he was the GOP nominee. After that proposal helped elect Allen, Kilgore joined a team of top officials that fanned out across the state on barnstorming tours to keep up the pressure on lawmakers.

"You had to know how to count votes, and you had to know how to keep the public involved," Kilgore said. "The most powerful stories ever were two rape victims. One victim stands up and testifies that she was raped. . . . The very next speaker was his next victim."

Only a handful of holdouts in a special legislative session ended up opposing the changes, which have greatly increased the time served by murderers, rapists and other violent offenders.

Kilgore said his bid to get his domestic violence agenda through the Republican-controlled General Assembly in 2002 also required tenacity -- and personal stories.

The provision prompting the most resistance was the one ridding rape law of the prerequisite that spouses be living apart, Kilgore said. "That was just wrong, I thought. I decided to fight on."

Although Kilgore says he pushes policies based on their substance, he does acknowledge a political dynamic at work. One example is his bid for more women's votes. A Washington Post poll taken Sept. 6-9 showed Kilgore slightly trailing his Democratic opponent, Lt. Gov. Timothy M. Kaine, among women. That reflects a long-standing gender gap between the major parties. President Bush faced a comparable shortfall in his reelection bid against Democratic Sen. John F. Kerry of Massachusetts last year.

Kilgore, who had a large lead among men in the poll, said the strategy to attract more women's votes is to continue "talking about my work with domestic violence and talking about my work with personal security. Those are two huge issues that move women voters."

His efforts to combat juvenile gangs will also be highlighted in the final days before Nov. 8, he said. "It'll move women voters -- and all voters -- in Virginia."