Immigration and Transit Loom Large for Hopefuls

Lingamfelter, Day Differ on Priorities

Ask the two candidates in the race for the House of Delegates seat in District 31 what the most pressing issue for voters in the Washington exurbs is this year, and two distinct answers emerge.

"The big issue is immigration, without a doubt," Del. L. Scott Lingamfelter (R) said. "People are enormously frustrated that the government has not taken effective action and are looking to the state to do what it can to bring [immigration] under control."

Challenger Bill S. Day Jr. (D), a licensed counselor from Fauquier County near Warrenton, sees it differently.

"The number one issue is transportation," Day said. "That comes up more than any other single issue. People are concerned about traffic congestion and these abusive-driver fees. They're not happy about these abuser fees."

The two candidates have sparred over those top-tier issues in the competitive race for District 31, a generally conservative swath of Prince William and Fauquier counties.

Day has raised more money than Lingamfelter, bringing in $214,878, with $137,950 on hand, according to campaign reports. Lingamfelter, who was first elected in 2002, has raised $184,476 and has $37,988 on hand.

In debates and elsewhere, Day, an environmentalist who has worked with conservation groups such as the Piedmont Environmental Council, has been critical of Lingamfelter's stance on transportation, most notably what some voters saw as the delegate's very public flip-flop on the state's controversial abusive-driver fees. The fees, which took effect July 1 and range from $750 to $3,000 for serious traffic offenses, were supported by Gov. Timothy M. Kaine (D) and members of both major parties. They were conceived by Republicans to avoid raising taxes to pay for transportation projects.

Lingamfelter wrote an editorial in July supporting the fees and now says they should be repealed.

"It's an unreliable source of revenue and a hidden tax," Day said of the fees.

He said he supports more emphasis on expanding public transit, including suburban bus systems and improvements to Virginia Railway Express. Day also hopes to expand health care options for residents and backs Kaine's energy conservation plan. He advocates replacing state vehicles as they age with energy-saving hybrids.

Lingamfelter, a Woodbridge resident and retired Army colonel, said he changed his position on the driver fees after listening to his constituents, noting that he has knocked on about 8,000 doors in his district since the campaign began.

"I listened loud and clear, and what they were saying to me was they did not like the approach of the abusive-driver fees," Lingamfelter said. "So I came out for an appeal."

Lingamfelter said illegal immigration is the most urgent problem on voters' minds in a region where jurisdictions such as Prince William and Loudoun counties have moved to restrict access to municipal services for illegal immigrants, sparking heated debate.

He said he supports such new controls as prohibiting illegal immigrants from receiving in-state tuition at Virginia universities, increased immigration enforcement by state and local law enforcement, stricter fines for businesses employing undocumented workers and making English the official state language.