Va. GOP Closes Its Reduced Ranks
Renewed Unity Dissolves Cooperation With Democrats

By Sandhya Somashekhar and Anita Kumar
Washington Post Staff Writers
Saturday, February 23, 2008; B01

RICHMOND -- A few weeks ago, Republican leaders from the Senate and House proudly stood side by side at a news conference to herald a new era of cooperation between the two chambers.

It was a small but significant gesture for the Virginia GOP, which for years has struggled to collect its divergent strands and unite them into a cohesive group.

For much of the past decade, the conservatives in the House and the more moderate Republicans in the Senate were often at odds, not only on such hot-button issues as abortion and gun control but also on spending and taxes.

Now Republicans in the General Assembly say old resentments have faded in the wake of major losses in the fall elections that gave Democrats control of the Senate and more seats in the House.

"I think the GOP is getting its groove back," said Del. Timothy D. Hugo (R-Fairfax), recently named to the House Republican leadership team.

The greater unity, however, has widened the chasm between Democrats and Republicans in the Senate, who for years were known for their ability to find common, moderate ground. That collegial relationship has dissolved, resulting in more party line votes and an unprecedented clash this week over the state budget.

Since the 60-day session began early last month, some Senate Republicans have taken an overall more conservative stand.

They voted against a bill that would have allowed local governments to expand health-care benefits to their employees' same-sex partners, even though many had voted for it last year. They embraced a bill that would allow customers to bring concealed weapons into restaurants, a proposal that had not had much traction in previous years.

And for the first time in recent history, Republicans voted in a bloc to reject the Senate's two-year spending plan and instead endorsed a budget closer to one written by the Republican-controlled House.

"I think the unity was extremely gratifying. They hung together on all those close votes," said John H. Hager, chairman of the Republican Party of Virginia, who has spent significant time this session on Capitol Square. "They are unified in working for the Republican principle."

The change, observers say, began last spring as lawmakers hammered out a landmark transportation plan. Republican lawmakers, aiming to stem the Democratic tide in Northern Virginia, sought to unite behind a plan to pump more than $300 million into road and rail improvements across the state.

While campaigning in the fall, House and Senate Republicans held a series of joint announcements to unveil their priorities for the legislative session, including expanding the number of community-based health clinics for the uninsured, requiring sheriffs to check inmates' immigration status and increasing money for school construction.

That unity has strengthened as the session passed its midpoint last week.

"They lost a chamber. They lost substantial seats in the House of Delegates, and I do think they are reeling a bit and reexamining the direction and where they go," House Minority Leader Ward L. Armstrong (D-Henry) said. "I think that the Republicans, now that they are in the [Senate] minority, are looking for ways to stop the bleeding. I don't think it's unwarranted that they would reach out to their House counterparts."

Now House and Senate Republican leaders meet at least once a week. They give each other advance notice on what they are doing and how they are voting.

House and Senate Republicans have joined forces to fight the Democratic majority in the Senate, which has sided with Gov. Timothy M. Kaine (D) on some key issues that Republicans oppose. For example, the GOP voted against a ban on smoking in restaurants and helped defeat a bill that would have required background checks on people who want to purchase firearms at gun shows.

They are also opposing Democrats and Kaine on some of the governor's new or expanded initiatives, including providing pre-kindergarten for poor children, improving foster care and launching a government program that would help offer health insurance to low-income employees.

"The Democrats are doing a very good job of sticking together and maintaining their cohesion," said J. Scott Leake, a strategist for Senate Republicans. "Nothing unifies you more than a unified opposition."

Leake was executive director of the Joint Republican Caucus, composed of delegates and senators who met regularly about policy, strategy, campaign and fundraising. Party leaders said they expect to revive the joint caucus soon.

The joint caucus initially dissolved as Republicans took over both chambers about a decade ago. But the split solidified over disagreements about former Republican governor James S. Gilmore III's plan to eliminate the unpopular personal property tax that Virginia cities and counties levy on vehicles. It widened later over former Democratic governor Mark R. Warner's desire for a $1.4 billion tax increase to close a budget shortfall.

But many personalities contributed to the rift between the two chambers. Two senior Republicans who recently retired, H. Russell Potts Jr. and John H. Chichester, the powerful Senate president and chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, were known for reaching out to their Democratic colleagues. But many Republicans considered them divisive figures who alienated the party's conservative wing.

"There was such disagreement with the House of Delegates on almost every subject that it had made the relationship strained, to say the least," said Sen. Stephen D. Newman (R-Lynchburg), a conservative Republican who was named chairman of the Senate Republican caucus this session. The strife, he said, "was encouraged, I think, by senators Chichester and Potts, who are no longer with us."

But Chichester laments what he sees as a misguided shift to the right in the Republican Party. The result, he said, is a more partisan legislature.

"What you have now is gridlock," Chichester said from his home in Fredericksburg. "Before, the common goal was, 'What is best for Virginia?' Now that's deteriorated to, 'What is best for the party?' "

The Senate vote on the budget was disappointing, said Chichester, who said he never saw such dissent in his 30 years in the legislature. But others, particularly Republicans in the House, applauded the vote.

"I don't know of anyone who remembers this happening. Even the guys who have been here a while," said Del. Clarke N. Hogan (R-Charlotte), who is serving as a budget negotiator. "It's comforting to have a little more company than we've had in previous years. I'm happy to see the Senate Republicans take a more conservative bent than they have."