23 September 2008
Oil Issue Key in One Virginia Congressional Race
Drilling and its impact become hotly debated in Virginia 2nd
Washington — The chants of “drill, baby, drill” that emanated from the Republican National Convention are resonating in the Virginia 2nd Congressional District, where incumbent Representative Thelma Drake has made domestic oil exploration a key issue in her bid for re-election.
Drake is seeking her third term representing the Virginia 2nd — which covers Virginia Beach and parts of Norfolk, Hampton and the Eastern Shore — in a surprisingly competitive race with the Democratic challenger, political newcomer Glenn Nye.
Drake wants Congress to lift the moratorium on offshore drilling to help ease rising energy costs. Her campaign fliers say, “We can drill now and pay less or vote Nye and gas prices will go even higher.” Members of the liberal political group MoveOn.org have staged protests outside her office, claiming she is too cozy with “Big Oil.”
“Right now, this crisis is a problem of supply and demand,” Drake wrote in a blog on her congressional Web site. “Increasing American energy is the answer to the high price of gas. … The Democrat Majority is standing in the way of the relief families need in the Second District and all over the country.”
During the summer, Drake was part of a bipartisan group of Washington lawmakers that proposed the National Conservation, Environment and Energy Independence Act. The act would allow offshore drilling, but keep drilling rigs at least 25 miles (40 kilometers) offshore and give each state an option to extend the no-drilling zone out to 50 miles (80 kilometers). It also would preserve a ban on drilling in Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
The bill includes a new set of boundaries marking each state's share of offshore areas to be leased for drilling — boundaries Drake has worked hard to change because they would give Virginia claim to only a small slice of the Outer Continental Shelf. If the current moratorium on offshore drilling is lifted without changing those boundaries, future royalties that could go to Virginia would go instead to North Carolina or Maryland.
Three days after Drake touted the bill, Nye unveiled his own energy plan at a gas station in Virginia Beach.
Nye wants more drilling on lands now leased to oil companies and more regulation of oil speculators. He wants to end tax breaks and other special considerations for oil companies and instead invest public funds in alternative energy sources.
While Nye is not opposed to lifting the congressional moratorium on new drilling sites, he opposes drilling off Virginia’s coast, citing U.S. Navy concerns it could threaten combat training exercises.
COURTING THE MILITARY VOTE
The Navy is important in a district with nearly 100,000 veterans, and both candidates are working hard to court the military vote.
Nye, who spent most of 2007 in Iraq working for the State Department, said the situation there is improving, but thinks the way to end the war is to reduce the American presence, forcing Iraqis to take more responsibility.
The Democrat spent much of his adult life working for the U.S. Foreign Service and U.S. Agency for International Development in Kosovo, Afghanistan, the West Bank and Iraq. He says he hopes his experience in war-torn countries will strike a chord with military families.
Drake, who often cites her work on the House Armed Services Committee, favors an increase in military spending. She has visited Iraq four times, including a two-day trip in July, but is reluctant to talk about U.S. troop withdrawal until military commanders present their assessments of the war in the fall.
Drake’s appeal to military families could be hurt by her vote against the House version of Virginia Senator Jim Webb’s bill to expand a benefits program that funds college education for service members. Drake defended her vote by saying she would not support legislation that President Bush has promised to veto and that she opposed domestic spending portions of the bill. She supported a weaker, Republican-backed package after Webb’s bill passed the Senate.
Drake also has tried to tap into Republican presidential candidate John McCain’s support among veterans, headlining an oceanfront kickoff for the “Virginia Veterans for McCain” group earlier in 2008.
CLOSER THAN EXPECTED
Drake’s campaign could be helped by her strong ties within the national Republican Party. In July, Bush adviser Karl Rove spoke at a steakhouse fundraiser for Drake, and she was scheduled to speak at the Republican National Convention before it was shortened by Hurricane Gustav.
Drake is also a member of the “Palin Truth Squad,” a group composed mainly of congresswomen who speak out for McCain’s vice presidential pick, Alaska Governor Sarah Palin.
Although he trails in fundraising overall, Nye brought in more money than Drake in the last campaign finance cycle, and has secured donations from nationally prominent Democrats, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California, Majority Leader Steny Hoyer of Maryland and Representative Charles Rangel of New York.
Nye hopes to get a boost from excitement over the presidential race, and from the candidacy of Mark Warner, a popular former governor running for Senate on the Democratic ticket. Senator Barack Obama’s candidacy also could bring out more black voters on Election Day in a district where 22 percent of residents are black.
This article is part of America.gov’s continuing coverage of seven of the 435 U.S. congressional districts during the 2008 campaign. Each offers a different prism from which to view U.S. politics. For more information, see U.S Elections - State and Local.
