99th District race quietly chugging along.

Things are starting to get interesting in the 99th District race. At least, interesting in Northern Neck terms — things are kind of laid back up thataways.

Linda CrandellThe race is on for the seat being vacated by Democrat Albert Pollard, pitting Democrat Linda Crandell against Republican Robert Whittman. Linda and I are friends, as we’re both in this year’s Sorensen Institute class. I’m not acquainted with Whittman.

The seat was long held by Democrat W. Tayloe Murphy, Jr. After he stepped down in 1999, there was a race for the open seat. Pollard beat the Republican, 53% to 46%, which a comfortable margin, but a predictable one, given that it had been a Democratic district. (His opponent had, incidentally, challenged Murphy back in 1995, garnering 43% of the vote.) In 2001, Pollard was challenged by another Republican, and he won 61% to 38%. And in 2003 he was challenged again, and again he won, 65% to 35%.

Again, the seat is open. Again, a well-known local Democrat has stepped up to the plate. Again, a Republican is also running. Again, the Democrat has such a home-team advantage that she’s barely broken a sweat in the race thus far. In fact, Linda has raised just $18k to Whittman’s $100k. In any other race, such a paltry total would mean that the race is over, no question. But in the 99th, with a Democratic hometown favorite like Linda? That just means they’re even in fundraising. In an editorial today, the Richmond Times-Dispatch today declared that it would be a “close race” and a “vigorous contest.” And surely it will be — presumably with results similar to 1999, the last time the seat was open.

A few days ago, the Crandell campaign issued this press release:

Crandell is endorsed by Governor Mark Warner

Linda Crandell, candidate for the House of Delegates seat in the 99th District is proud to announce that she was recently endorsed by Governor Mark Warner. Linda stands behind the work that Governor Warner has done over the past 3 years.

“I am very pleased to have the endorsement of Governor Warner. He, in my opinion, ranks among the great leaders of the Commonwealth. His work saving Virginia’s coveted bond rating has put the Commonwealth back on solid financial ground. His commitment to education mirrors my own as Virginia is well on the way to becoming some of the best schools in the nation. To me, it is a great honor to have his endorsement of my candidacy and his support to lead Virginia forward!”

(Governor Warner is not, incidentally, in the habit of endorsing every Democrat in every House of Delegates race. I’d assumed this was so, until my wife pointed out to me that she’d been brought in to manage a campaign in its last month, back in 2003, and her candidate couldn’t get Warner’s endorsement. He did, however, receive a check for $100 after the election. Fair enough — he did get his ass kicked, and no endorsement was going to change that.)

The 99th District race is a quiet one, in part because the Northern Neck is physically removed from the rest of the state, and in part because it’s my understanding that both candidates are nice local folks having a reasonable exchange of ideas in hopes of being elected. This is Linda Crandell’s race to lose, and she’s showing no sign of doing so thus far.

Published by Waldo Jaquith

Waldo Jaquith (JAKE-with) is an open government technologist who lives near Char­lottes­­ville, VA, USA. more »

5 replies on “99th District race quietly chugging along.”

  1. I grew up in Colonial Beach. The people in the Northern Neck like local folks who won’t mess with their hunting rights and who will protect the waters of the Potomac and the Chesapeake for the shellfish that the region depends on. Pollard and Murphy were excellent delegates for that area for so long…I hope that tradition can continue with Crandell.

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