University of Virginia Library

Republicans

By Stefan Lopatkiewicz
George Yates

"Something's happening in Virginia —
I can feel it in this room — and you're
going to be a part of it."

With these words, delivered last week
at the Roanoke County Civic Center,
President Richard M. Nixon surmised the
forces involved in the making of Virginia's
chief executive; forces which will
converge tomorrow when the state's
electorate goes to the polls to choose its
next governor.

The Virginia Republican Party has
waged its most vigorous campaign in a
century in the quadrennial struggle for
the state house. This year probably marks
the first time electoral observers have
hesitated to put their reputations as
political analysts on the line in predicting
the outcome of the state's gubernatorial
campaign.

Nominated March 1 by a unanimous
vote in his hometown of Roanoke, Mr.
Holton, the Republican nominee, has
conducted a campaign characterized by a
superbly-structured organization. In contrast
to the ragged, shoe-string efforts of
past campaigns, this year's effort, more
than adequately financed, has been one
of minute calculation and split-second
timing.

The Republican hopeful has picked up
themes from the populist surge of the
Henry Howell campaign. Whereas Mr.
Howell advocated outright abolition of
the state sales tax on food, Mr. Holton
has called for a more responsible plan of a
tax rebate for every Virginia consumer.
Both men have stressed consumer protection
against mammoth state business
concerns, such as electrical, telephone
and insurance monopolies.

Certain regional issues of Mr. Holton's
campaign have attained statewide recognition.
The candidate has promised the
people of southwest Virginia a better
highway system, a pledge which Mr.
Battle has attacked as being financially
extravagant. Mr. Holton has also stressed
the need for greatly expanded port
facilities in the Hampton Roads area to
stimulate Virginia's economic growth.

The forces at work in Virginia, to
which Mr. Nixon alluded in his endorsement
of Mr. Holton, have effected a
rather bizarre pattern in the state's
politics. Mr. Holton has received the
endorsement of not only a conservative,
monied element of the Democratic Party,
but also of both the state AFL-CIO and
the Virginia Crusade for Voters, the
state's most powerful black voter league.
It is this strange coalition which Mr.
Holton hopes will help carry him to
victory tomorrow.

An examination of the ten individual
Congressional districts of the state
indicates the fluid electoral situation.

The First District, encompassing most
of the cities and counties bordering on
the lower Chesapeake Bay and several
areas north of the James River, has
always been heavily Democratic and it is
generally conceded that it is likely to
remain in Mr. Battle's column this year.
In 1965, Mr. Godwin carried the district
nearly two to one.

Although it probably will not be

enough to carry the district, considerable
gains are foreseen by Republicans in the
area. The main factor is the large Howell
vote in the July primary. If Mr. Holton
gains even 25 or 30 per cent of this vote,
the Democratic margin will be significantly
reduced. A recent survey in a
Hampton precinct which went by a six to
one margin for Mr. Howell indicated that
60 per cent of the unsuccessful candidate's
backers are now supporting Mr.
Holton while only 30 per cent favor Mr.
Battle and 10 per cent remain undecided.

The heavily-urban Second District,
comprised of the cities of Norfolk,
Newport News and Portsmouth, has also
been a Democratic stronghold of the
state. Again, the Republicans do not
foresee victory in this district, but they
are expecting to make considerable
inroads into the Democratic majority.
There are several factors in Mr. Holton's
favor. Most significant of these is the fact
that the district went overwhelmingly to
Mr. Howell in the primary, and many of
his supporters have failed to accept Mr.
Battle's campaign. Indeed, Mr. Battle has
refused to compromise with the demands
of the Howellites. On the other hand, Mr.
Holton's proposal for a sales tax rebate
has lured a number of these dissidents
into his camp.

The endorsement of the GOP candidate
by the state AFL-CIO and the VCV |