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October 12, 2000
1st District candidates debate in Bateman's shadow
By ERIKA REIF

© 2000, Pilot Online


The issues debated by three 1st Congressional District hopefuls may look like commas next to the 18-year legacy of political exclamation points left by U.S. Rep. Herbert H. Bateman, who died in office last month.

Voters link Republican Bateman's name with huge Peninsula-area interests, including Newport News Shipbuilding, military bases, NASA-Langley Research Center and Jefferson Lab.

The challenge for candidates in the Nov. 7 election has been to command a position of authority while debating each other on issues of education, health care, national defense, social security, abortion and the proposed King William Reservoir.

Del. Jo Ann Davis, the Republican candidate chosen to replace then-retiring Bateman, has released poll results that indicate she is leading. However, the same survey shows that almost one-third of those polled have not made up their minds.

The poll of 300 voters by Public Opinion Strategies of Alexandria shows Davis of York County with a 47 percent to 22 percent lead over Democratic candidate Lawrence Davies of Fredericksburg. One one percent is divided between Libertarian Sharon Wood of York County and independent Josh Billings of Lancaster County.

Davies, who was mayor of Fredericksburg for 20 years, explained Davis' poll results by noting that he has spent a lot of time working on voter registration since committing to run after Bateman died.

He opened headquarters in Newport News, is participating in more debates and increasing advertising, he said.

Wood, formerly a prosecutor in Florida for 16 years, decided in February to run. She is one of four Libertarian Congressional condidates in Virginia, and among 245 across the country.

All the candidates face a geographic challenge in getting their message out. The heavily Republican district stretches from the Peninsula and Eastern Shore northward to the suburbs of Washington.

Davies acknowledges that although the Stafford-Spotsylvania-Fredericksburg area -- his home base -- is growing fast, he will have to make a significant advance in the Tidewater region to win.

Davis, a member of the House of Delegates since 1997, is perhaps the most well-known candidate on the Peninsula, the congressional district's most populous area. The owner of a small realty company, she generally votes conservative and pro-business.

She is against abortion in all cases and does not support affirmative-action-type racial quotas.

She said she wants higher teacher salaries but believes localities and the state should decide how to use educational monies.

A member of the state House Health Committee, Davis supports the right of patients to sue their HMOs, lifelong health care for military veterans and no taxation of social security income.

Davis opposes the proposed King William reservoir, under permit consideration by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Newport News Waterworks officials and many of the region's adminstrators say the reservoir is needed to meet the Peninsula's future water demand.

But Davis said the potential harm to the fishing lifestyle of the nearby Mattaponi Indian tribe could be too costly.

Davies, the owner of a small parts company and a Baptist minister, was elected as Fredericksburg's first black councilman in 1966. He served on a biracial commission that pressured the city's businesses to desegregate.

Ten years after joining the council, he won the mayor's seat by a margin of eight votes. After five consecutive terms as mayor, Davies declined to run again because the city was ``economically sound and growing, and the taxes had leveled off,'' he said.

Davies supports building the reservoir because the Peninsula's economic anchors, including Newport News Shipbuilding and military installations might need the water in the future. He does not believe the reservoir would harm the Mattaponi.

Davies is pro-choice. As for affirmative action quotas, he supports ``whatever it takes to maintain a level playing field.''

Public schools need more funds and teachers need to be given adequate resources, he said. He said too much emphasis is placed on state Standards of Learning tests and more diverse indicators of progress should be developed.

Davies wants to restore veterans' health benefits, preserve Social Security with the budget surplus, and continue funding NASA missions at Langley and Wallops Island.

Wood's Libertarian platform makes her a long-shot, but ``in a four-way race, anything's possible,'' she said.

She joined the party last year after hearing a speech by Libertarian presidential candidate Harry Browne, who re-inforced her belief in less government. She supports rights for gun owners, and says that years as a prosecutor helped convince her that women in particular need guns to defend themselves.

She supports legalizing drugs and regulating them as a controlled substance, much like alcohol, and said the income tax should be abolished and replaced with tarrifs, excises or possibly a national sales tax. She proposes privatizing Social Security and eliminating the federal Department of Education.

Billings, who ran unsuccessfully against Bateman in 1998, could not be reached for comment.


Reach Erika Reif at 850-8728 or ereif@pilotonline.com

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