Predictions on Pilot endorsements – statewide races

Having two of the three candidates with ties to Hampton Roads is, no doubt, causing a bit of heartburn for the members of editorial board of The Virginian-Pilot.  Republican gubernatorial candidate Bob McDonnell lived in Virginia Beach and represented part of it in the House of Delegates (84th district). Democratic Lieutenant Governor candidate Jody Wagner has also lived in Virginia Beach for a long time and has a business here. So the lure to support the hometown candidate is strong.

But I think they will resist – at least in one case 🙂

Attorney General: Steve Shannon

Republican candidate Ken Cuccinelli has run the most disciplined campaign of the season, pretty much keeping his wilder side under control.  In addition, the only editorial I’ve seen mentioning Democratic candidate Steve Shannon was this one, just after the primary, in which the board complains that he was an unknown. Nevertheless, I expect the board to endorse Shannon, basing the endorsement on the respective legislative records of the two men.

Lieutenant Governor: Jody Wagner

The endorsement for this one could have been written in June. Wait – read that link above and you’ll see that it was 🙂

Governor: no one

Yes, the composition of the editorial board has changed since 2005, when the Pilot endorsed Republican Bob McDonnell for AG over Democratic candidate Creigh Deeds. And yes, they have gotten to know Deeds a lot better. But I suspect they have not liked what they have heard from him, again, reading from that June editorial above.  At the same time, they can’t ignore the elephant (no pun intended) in the room: McDonnell’s thesis.  They will probably both applaud and pan McDonnell’s transportation plan – applaud for him having a plan and pan for the unrealistic nature of the plan – while chiding Deeds for not putting forth a more specific transportation plan.

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For posterity, here (pdf) is the statewide endorsement of the Pilot from 2005.

This is the second part of a series on predicting the endorsements of The Virginian-Pilot editorial board. The House endorsements can be found here. Predictions of local endorsements will be forthcoming.