U.S. ELECTIONS | Guide to the 2008 Election
09 April 2008
Transportation Seen as Key Issue for Voters in Virginia District
Paying for needed road projects a concern for 2nd District voters
Washington --The Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel, which connects one side of the Virginia 2nd Congressional District with the other, was cited as "one of the seven engineering wonders of the modern world" shortly after it opened in 1964.
The 37-kilometer series of bridges and tunnels spanning the Chesapeake Bay ties together the two halves of the water-bound district and lets those traveling from Virginia Beach and Norfolk to northern destinations like Delaware and New York cut 153 kilometers off their trip.
Another marvel of the $200 million project was that construction was completed in less than four years -- and without the use of tax money. When the bridge-tunnel was expanded in 1999, "no local, state or federal tax monies were utilized for the construction costs," according to the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel Authority.
To date, more than 95 million vehicles have used the bridge-tunnel and that number is likely to keep increasing nearly exponentially. As the population grows in the region often referred to as Hampton Roads, entrances to this bridge and other water-crossings that connect the region with the rest of the state routinely are clogged during rush hour and traffic is brought to a standstill if an accident occurs.
So, even though national issues like Iraq, the economy and immigration concern Virginia 2nd voters, these voters’ most important issue likely will be one that the presidential candidates will not be discussing much -- transportation.
For the 1.6 million people in Hampton Roads, driving through the region can become "unpredictable at times," said Glen Sussman, political science professor at Old Dominion University in Norfolk.
"There's a lot of frustration. … People realize something has to be done, but they just can't agree on how to pay for it," Sussman explained.
Typically, state and local jurisdictions are responsible for determining what road projects are needed and how they will be funded. Virginia state law also requires jurisdictions to fund maintenance of existing roads before building new ones.
Many local leaders agree on the priority projects -- expanding or building new bridge-tunnels, building a light rail train system and extending or widening major roads -- but admit they do not know how these projects will be funded. The priority projects are expected to cost more than $10 billion to complete.
The state planned to have transportation authorities raise taxes and fees for new transportation projects, but the Virginia Supreme Court ruled that only elected leaders can impose taxes. The region also planned to use money collected from those who had to pay fines for "abusive driving" -- which included traffic violations such as excessive speeding. But an uproar from citizens over the high fines led to the repeal of the law and the return of an estimated $7.32 million collected under it to citizens.
Since these funding plans were abandoned, leaders have been unable to agree on how to pay for the road repairs and improvements, leaving officials and voters frustrated by the lack of progress. Because of this, Sussman said, "transportation is probably the Number 1 issue," for Virginia Beach voters this election season.
VA 2nd VOTERS ATTUNE TO PRESIDENTIAL RACE, ISSUES
The focus on transportation does not keep Virginia 2nd voters from being attuned to the topics dominating the presidential and congressional races, Sussman said, citing the area's unusually high enthusiasm in Virginia’s February 12 presidential primaries. Democrat Barack Obama and Republican John McCain were favored by most voters in the region.
As in many other parts of the country, Virginia 2nd residents are less concerned about the war in Iraq and immigration than they were a few months ago. But, unlike most of the nation, Virginia 2nd voters are not particularly concerned about the economy. Although there is some worry that an economic downturn could hurt the region's vital tourism industry, so far, the area has not been hit as hard by economic troubles as other parts of the country, Sussman said.
Virginia voters have not favored a Democratic presidential candidate since Lyndon B. Johnson in 1964, but the state's liberal population has grown in recent years and some political experts think Virginia could be won by the Democratic presidential nominee in 2008. The state currently has a Democratic governor and elected a Democratic senator, Jim Webb, in 2006. A popular Democratic former governor, Mark Warner, is favored to win the Senate seat of retiring Senator John Warner, a Republican.
Like many Republican congressional candidates in the 2006 midterm elections, the district's representative, Thelma Drake, faced a tough battle for re-election. She managed to hold her seat even though many of her party colleagues lost in the midterm elections. So far, no well-known Democrat has opted to run against her in 2008, making it likely that Drake will retain her seat, Sussman said.
"Just because Virginia might go blue [Democratic] for the president … it doesn't necessarily mean it is going to go that way in the congressional election," Sussman said.
