Karen Schultz for Virginia State Senate

In the Old Dominion, the General Assembly has been controlled by Republicans even while we have elected Mark Warner and then Tim Kaine as Democratic governors.  There were some sensible Republicans in the State Senate which has allowed some meaningful legislation, but two have retired and two were defeated in primaries.  Thus it is critical that the Democrats pick up the net 4 seats necessary to take control of the State Senate.

One very good opportunity exists in the 27th Senatorial district, centered on Winchester, where Russ Potts is retiring.  In this diary I will tell you a bit about the district and about Potts, but concentrate mainly on introducing you to the Democratic nominee for the seat.  Her name is  Karen Schultz, a life-long advocate of public schools (important to me) who has served on the Winchester School Board, the governing board for the Mountain Vista Governor?s School, on the Virginia School Board Association, and the National School Board Association.  She also knows health care, serving as an Associate Professor in the Pharmacy School at Shenandoah University. Oh, and her opponent may be involved in one very important current scandal.
The outgoing Senator, Republican Russ Potts, chaired the Education and Health Committee.  He became controversial in 2005 when he broke with the Republican party and ran as an Independent in the 2005 gubernatorial contest, in which Tim Kaine defeated Jerry Kilgore by 52-46%, with Potts drawing about 2.2%. 

The district spreads across Clark, Fauquier, Frederick and Loudoun Counties and the city of Winchester .  In 2003, Potts won 58% of the 44,947 total votes.  In 2006 George Allen carried all of the jurisdictions except Loudoun - in other words, this is an area that tends Republican (I am not doing a precinct level analysis at this time).  But it is important to remember that 2007 is an off-off year election:  we elect all 40 state senators and all 100 delegates, but there are no statewide races.  Thus turnout is likely to be low.  For example, comparisons of total turnout for Winchester City

2003 - general assembly  4,942
2004 - presidential  9,343
2005 - gubernatorial and House of delegates 5,951
2006 - US Senate and Congress  6,681

In other words, turnout is less than 60% of what it is in a presidential race.  Thus an ability to turnout additional voters who normally don?t vote this cycle carries proportionally greater weight, which makes the race more competitive than previous voting patterns might make it appear.

Second, the population growth within the district tends to be heavier the closer you are to DC, and it is in precisely those areas that the voting patterns have turned increasingly Democratic. 

I believe this is a district that the Democrats can win.  I do not know if Russ Potts will formally endorse Karen, but she is far closer to him on the issues than is her opponent, Jill Holtzman-Vogel, who just won a contested primary fairly easily after her opponent Mark Tate was charged with campaign finance violations just three weeks before the primary. Potts was fond of saying that both were "to the right of Attila the Hun."

Holtzman-Vogel is lawyer living in Warrenton (Faquier County) whose practice includes lobbying and campaign finance issues.  She served as Chief Counsel for the RNC at the same time that Rove and others were using - and deleting ? emails on the RNC servers in order to bypass government disclosure laws.  She spent over 400,000 in achieving her primary win, and as of May 30 had 55,092 on hand, while Karen Schultz had 101,036 on hand.  Since then Schultz has had a major fund raiser with former Governor Mark Warner which raised over 50,000. 

Karen has a complete website which will give you information on her background, and her positions on the issues.  Let me offer a few highlights derived from material there.

Background:
- a recognized community leader in the Shenandoah Valley region for 30 years,
-  an Associate Professor at the Bernard Dunn School of Pharmacy at Shenandoah University
- an educator and a healthcare practitioner known for her dedication to service, community and family
- has taught at the First Presbyterian Church in Winchester, where she has served as an Elder for over twenty years
- Bachelor of Arts degree from The College of William and Mary
- Associate of Science degree in Respiratory Care from  Shenandoah University
- Masters in Business Administration from Shenandoah University
- PhD. from Virginia Polytechnic Institute in 2002
- Teacher of the Year at Shenandoah University?s School of
- recognized twice for her outstanding teaching by the Student Government Association at Shenandoah.

Let me quote something word for word:

Karen pioneered SU?s work in the field of service learning. This teaching innovation has earned national recognition in the fields of Pharmacy and public education while incorporating her students into areas of public schools, juvenile detention, elder care and substance abuse prevention and education. Shenandoah University awarded her the Algernon Sidney Sullivan award for Service to the Community, and through her programs Pharmacy students have provided over 10,000 hours of volunteer service in the region.

And two more paragraphs from the page in which she is presented:

Karen?s work with Winchester Public Schools during the renovations of Daniel Morgan Middle School and John Handley High School allowed her to take leadership roles in the collaborative efforts between local and state governments to ensure stable financing for public schools. Those efforts involved the use of strategies such as public-private partnerships, tax credits and bond issues.

Karen was a member of the steering committee of the Winchester-Frederick County joint long range planning effort in 1989. Her work on the Vision 2020 project focused on economic development and the community?s need for solid planning and collaboration between industry and education within the surrounding areas.  Karen is a member of the Executive Board of Trustees of the Shenandoah Valley Westminster Canterbury. She is well aware of how health care access, medical care costs and reimbursements and transportation are challenges faced by all older individuals.

In short, she is one impressive lady, with strong roots and a record of leadership and accomplishment in her community.

The issues page is still in bullet points.  Let me list them, and then explain a bit:

  * Education
  o Increased Funding from Richmond and the Federal Government
  o Improve and Expand Access to Higher Education
  o ?Education is the foundation of our economy?

  * Health Care
  o Provide More Opportunities for Health Care Training
  o Increased Funding for Free Clinics and Public Health Departments
  o Tax Credits to Encourage Preventive Care

  * Transportation
  o Protect State Funding For Local Roads ? Prevent Tolls
  o 2007 Transportation Compromise is a First Step

  * Land Use and the Environment
  o Reduce our Impact on the Natural Landscape
  o Stop the Dominion Power Line or Bury it
  o Give Localities the Power to Manage Development
  o Tax Credits for Energy Efficient Buildings
  o Funding for School Systems to "Go Green"

For those not in Virginia, there has been a huge problem in getting state funding for road building in areas of increasing population.  The unwillingness of the Conservative Republicans especially in the House of Delegates to raise taxes for any purpose has severely handicapped keeping infrastructure development sufficient fo the increasing population and economy of the Old Dominion.  Recognizing that unless they did SOMETHING they might be vulnerable in the forthcoming election, a compromise that is really barely satisfactory made it through.  Gov. Kaine accepted it as a start, but his hoping to see enough change in the legislature after the forthcoming elections to revisit the issue.

One very big issue is the massive power line Dominion Power wants to build, above ground, using a power of condemnation to gain access to the land necessary to string the line.  Anyone with any environmental sense opposes the proposal.  This is an issue which is critical to maintaining the character of the countryside.  It is good to see that Karen Schultz is right on environment as well as the issues one might expect her to show her previous expertise.  Dominion has gone to the US Department of Energy to get them special rights allowing them to bypass opposition in Virginia.  Karen opposes this, and she is a strong advocate of preserving the beauty of the countryside.

We have a fundraising reporting cycle ending June 30 in Virginia, just as there is for Federal offices.  One state senate seat in Virginia, with a Republican leaning electorate, might not seem like a high priority.  But this is a winnable race, provided Karen has sufficient funds.  She is going about it the right way.  She has helping her in this race a man who last year was doing the fundraising for a Congressional race in Washington state (as it happens, for my college classmate who while he cut the margin significantly from the previous cycle was not able to pull out a victory).  The presence of campaign professionals like this in Virginia  - and he is one example among a number of which I am aware - demonstrates the seriousness of our races, the importance of taking back the Virginia Senate.  Note that if we take back the Senate now, we can guarantee at least partial control of the next redistricting process during 2011, since we will maintain that control for the 4 years of Senate terms.  That will effect House seats as well as state legislative races. 

Virginia is a state that is now purple, will the real possibility of tending blue.  The 27th State Senate District is the kind of contest that  if we can win will demonstrate our ability to spread the Democratic message in places where it has not been loudly heard in the past.

If you can help Karen, you have the website.  You can contribute online at this link.  If you are in the general vicinity, and - like me - do NOT have a competitive race of your own in which to volunteer, consider contacting the campaign to see how you can help.  I plan to spend some time in Winchester and in the closer parts of the district during the summer.

How about you?

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