Points of Interest

Tomorrow is election day and the 34^th district of Virginia has witnessed what some might call a bloody battle between incumbent Jeannemarie Devolites Davis and challenger Chap Peterson.  The level of acrimony has left each ducking and dodging to some degree.

With many of the electorate tired of the current administration in Washington and its policies, perhaps Devolites Davis has had the biggest challenge moving to the center away from the more conservative image with which her political career started.

Both candidates favor a tunnel in and around Tysons Corner for the new metro.  Peterson has made the point that the work should be awarded subject to competitive bidding.

Both oppose the abusive driver fees that were passed this year to help finance state transportation issues.  Devolites Davis points out that it is “ludicrous to count on people’s bad behavior to fund long-term, sustainable items”.

So, where do they differ?  In the following issues:

Budget Shortfall.  If there is one, Peterson favors reining in Medicaid costs by entering a multi-state compact to drive down Medicaid prescription prices.  He also would like local government to start delivering state services.  Devolites Davis backs Governor Kaine’s idea of trimming 5% from state agency budgets.

Transportation Bill.  Peterson calls it a “debacle” saying that it should have been statewide, not local.  And he wants to finance it with a higher gasoline tax.  This would not only tax residents but users of the highways including tourists and out-of-state drivers.  Devolites Davis was a major proponent of the bill stating, “It’s been 21 years since we had any additional transportation funding in Virginia and I led the charge to get that done".

Gun Control.  Here Devolites Davis favors giving local communities the right to ban firearms.  Peterson says that a 2002 state law prohibits local authority to regulate firearms and will not vote “to approve laws that violate the state law”.

Immigration Reform.  Peterson believes state benefits should only be available to legal residents.  He wants to restrict businesses from hiring illegal residents.  Because of the lack of federal manpower, Devolites Davis favors allowing the Virginia state police to enforce the deportation of illegal aliens.

Not business as usual.  We have a republican backing a democratic governor’s budget trimming initiative while criticizing the democrat opponent for being too soft on guns.  On the other hand, there is the democrat who is seemingly blasé about gun control, wants to restrict state benefits to illegal residents but invokes an argument similar to a user tax.

The ads, as they sometimes do, have become acrimonious.  And our students at Oakton High School have taken note how certain words and their use in campaign language can be used to manipulate the public.  The publication of any opponent’s personal information is a questionable practice at best.  But, it must be mentioned that one original reply was received in response to a column addressing the need for increased telecommuting here in Fairfax County.  Late the night of publication, we received an email from Devolites Davis stating that she had sponsored legislation to put security standards into place to allow just that kind of smart use of our assets.