Lawmakers Fearful of Traffic-Weary Voters' Wrath

It used to be that growth politics was driven by concern about the environment or open space or crowded trailers on high school campuses. Now, polls show that many voters believe traffic will ease when growth is slowed. And they want their state leaders to do something about it.

Some say Kaine is largely responsible for the change.

Toward the end of his 2005 campaign, Kaine began airing a provocative television commercial aimed at the outer suburbs of Northern Virginia. "I'll give your community more power to stop out-of-control development that increases traffic," Kaine promised.

The ad angered developers who had been supporting Kaine. And it energized slow-growth activists who saw it as an endorsement of positions they had been pushing for years without much luck.

In a recent interview, Kaine took credit for helping change the thinking about growth and transportation. "I think we have turned a corner in realizing that, going forward, we've got to do land use in a very different way, connected with our transportation planning," he said. "That had not been the norm."

Others say some of the credit should go to Howell, who represents Stafford County, one of the fastest-growing localities, where concern about growth and traffic is intense. In 2005, voters tossed out four members of their board of supervisors -- from both parties -- in favor of slow-growth advocates.

Howell emerged from that election unscathed, in part because he has paid attention to the growth issue. Years ago, he pushed for Stafford's ability to impose impact fees on new houses, a powerful authority that few other Virginia localities have.

But Republicans and Democrats worry that, come November, their constituents will be looking for someone to blame.

"The more frustrated the voters get," Griffith aide Jeff Ryer said, "the wider net they cast."