Potts Plots Swan Song: Helping Democrats

RICHMOND

State Sen. H. Russell Potts Jr. (R-Winchester) might have one final snub planned for a Republican Party he accuses of drifting too far to the right over the past two decades.

Even though it would result in some of his closest friends being stripped of their power, Potts might help Democrats pick up the four seats they need to regain control of the state Senate in the Nov. 6 elections.

Potts, a maverick who describes himself as an Eisenhower Republican, has been frustrating conservative Republicans for years.

As chairman of the Education and Health Committee, Potts has blocked much of the agenda of social conservatives, including measures to restrict abortion rights.

He was one of two Senate Republicans to vote against this year's GOP-brokered transportation plan because it did not include a statewide tax increase. And Potts launched an independent bid for governor in 2005 instead of supporting the party nominee, Jerry W. Kilgore, a conservative.

Now, Potts says he is considering endorsing a Democrat to replace him in a Republican-leaning district that includes Winchester, Clark and Frederick counties and parts of Loudoun and Fauquier counties.

In an interview, Potts said the two candidates vying for the Republican nomination, Jill Holtzman Vogel and Mark Tate, are too conservative.

"They are to the right of Attila the Hun and way out of the mainstream," said Potts, noting how the two oppose abortion even in cases of rape or incest.

Potts noted that Tate, former vice mayor of Middleburg, was indicted last week on charges of election fraud and perjury. Tate says he is not guilty and is the victim of an overly aggressive prosecutor.

Potts called Vogel a "daddy's girl," an apparent reference to how her father, William B. Holtzman, is helping to fund her campaign. He owns Holtzman Oil Corp.

By comparison, Potts called the Democratic candidate, Karen Schultz, a former member of the Winchester School Board, "very capable" and "very articulate."