By Brigid Schulte
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, November 1, 2007

Virginia's 45th District is among the safest Democratic seats in the House of Delegates.

Democrat Marian Van Landingham had it for more than 20 years. In 2005, Democrat David L. Englin won easily, with 68 percent of the vote. To run as a Republican, the conventional wisdom goes, is pure folly.

That's what makes this year's race so interesting. Mark S. Allen, an Alexandria real estate lawyer, is challenging Englin as a Republican. Allen has raised far more money since he entered the race in June than Englin has raised all year. A recent single night of rooftop fundraising in Old Town Alexandria with Sen. John W. Warner (R) netted the Allen campaign $15,000. "That says people are interested in this race," Allen said.

The reason Allen says he might have a chance is because he's not really a Republican. Allen considered running for the seat in 2005 as a Democrat. But the real estate market was booming, and he said he didn't have the time. He spoke to Alexandria's Democratic Committee in April about taking Englin on in a primary. He also contemplated a bid as an independent before choosing to run as a Republican.

"I'm not a very partisan person," Allen said. "This is not about D's and R's. It's about putting the best people in government. And I think I can do a better job."

The campaign isn't really about issues. Allen says he and Englin agree on most important ones, such as repealing abusive-driver fees and finding money to ease Northern Virginia's traffic. That's why the race has gotten personal -- and ugly.

Allen describes Englin as a shrill, professional "hair on fire" politician who has lived in the city for five years and doesn't have a "real job." Englin, a former Air Force officer, stay-at-home father and sometime writer, says Allen is bereft of ideas and can run only a negative campaign.

"I'd like this to be a campaign about ideas," Englin said. "I tell voters, 'I don't know what his agenda is. Here's mine.' "

With that, Englin offered thick handouts of the eight bills he wrote that became law in the last session and his ideas for promoting affordable housing, public education, access to health care, a cleaner environment, transparent government and improving quality of life in Northern Virginia. His legislative record shows he can build bipartisan coalitions, he said.

"One of the reasons I sincerely want to be reelected is I want to see change in Virginia," he said. "I'd like the opportunity to continue."

Moody John Stobart oil paintings of 19th-century waterfronts hang in Allen's real estate office in Old Town, a block from the Potomac River. What he offers, he said, is a different style.

"The measure of a legislator is not by the number of extra pages he adds to the Virginia code," Allen said. "I'm not the kind of person to throw a lot of spaghetti on the wall to see what sticks."

Allen, who has lived in Alexandria for 25 years, spends many weekends at his log home in Culpeper, Va., duck hunting, hanging out at Baby Jim's drive-in and working for the Virginia Outdoors Foundation. He knows there's a north-south divide in the state. "But I think I can do a really good job of bridging those gaps."

Allen has begun sending out mailers outlining his positions on funding transportation, improving schools, fighting illegal immigration -- finding resources for law enforcement officials to detain those ordered deported -- and using his experience in business to prioritize state spending and promoting preventive health-care initiatives such as "stopping childhood diabetes."

He said he would like to work on insurance reform and explore funding affordable housing projects by requiring banks to put the escrow money for real estate closings in interest-bearing accounts, for instance.