Politics

GOP Grabs Virginia House Seat

June 20, 2001 / 9:24 AM EDT / AP

Republicans rebounded from the defection of Vermont Sen. James Jeffords with the election of Randy Forbes to an open House seat formerly held by a Democrat.

In the special election Tuesday night, the former Virginia GOP chairman defeated Democrat Louise Lucas, who had hoped to become the state's first black female member of Congress.

The campaign was marked by negative advertising, racial tension and heavy spending by national parties eager to send a message about the direction of the Bush administration and gain momentum for the 2002 midterm congressional elections.

"Hopefully this is a good win for the Republican Party, and it will help make sure that the president's agenda gets a fair shake," Forbes told The Associated Press after receiving a congratulatory telephone call from the president Tuesday night.

Forbes told President Bush, "We couldn't have done it without you."

Bush and his mother, former first lady Barbara Bush, both recorded telephone campaign messages for Forbes. Vice President Dick Cheney was one of several high-profile Republicans who came to the district to campaign for Forbes.

With all precincts reporting, Forbes had 70,926 votes, or 52 percent, to Lucas' 65,194 votes, or 48 percent. Voter turnout was about 38 percent.

The 4th District seat was held for 18 years by Rep. Norman Sisisky, a conservative Democrat who died in March. The 39 percent black district was drawn to benefit Democrats but had evolved over the past decade into a swing district as Republicans gained strength statewide.

Lucas had received help on the campaign trail from several House Democrats. She and her surrogates visited 74 black churches Sunday in a final get-out-the-vote effort.

"It looks like we fell a little short," the former shipfitter told volunteers in a concession speech. "But each of us knows that we gave it everything we had."

Jeffords' defection cost the GOP control of the Senate.

Forbes' victory gives Republicans 222 House seats to the Democrats' 210. Independents have two seats and one is vacant.

His win also was a boost for Republican National Committee chairman Jim Gilmore, the Virginia governor, who could not afford to lose in his own back yard. The RNC pledged $500,000 to Forbes' campaign.

"This success in a moderate district shows the president's vision for America is appealing to voters across the political spectrum — proof positive that the GOP is expanding the reach of our party," Gilmore said.

Virginia Rep. Tom Davis, chairman of the Republican National Congressional Committee, said Forbes' victory shows that Jeffords' defection, which cost the GOP control of the Senate, was a fluke.

"This speaks volumes as to where the country wants to go, as opposed to the idiosyncrasies of one senator," Davis said.

New York Rep. Nita Lowey, who chairs the Democratic National Congressional Committee, said the special election didn't have any national implications.

"It was a local race and i will only impact local voters," she said. "There was no national theme to this race, and neither side spent a dime talking about President Bush."

During the campaign, each side accused the other of injecting race into the contest. Forbes' campaign criticized a Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee mailing that pictured a black child on the cover and declared that "12 million of us will be left behind" by Bush's budget.

A few days later, a Forbes supporter was quoted as telling a white reporter that Lucas was "working to get the people out to vote. Her people. Not Randy's people, not my people, not your people, but her people." Lucas' campaign chastised Forbes for not disavowing the remark.

The national parties spent an estimated $3.5 million on behalf of the candidates, mostly for TV advertising and much of that on negative spots.