Deeds wins big: Beats McAuliffe, Moran 2-to-1
State Senator Creigh Deeds gets a hug from his wife Pam before speaking to supporters celebrating his victory in the Democratic primary for governor.PHOTO BY LINDSAY BARNES
In the contest to become the Democratic nominee for governor this year, 
the polls were tight headed into the Tuesday, June 9 primary, but in the end there was no doubt. State Senator Creigh Deeds beat former Democratic National Committee chair Terry McAuliffe and former Alexandria delegate Brian Moran in overwhelming fashion, taking 50 percent of the vote in the three-way race, to McAuliffe's 26 percent and Moran's 24 percent.
Addressing his victory party at the Omni Hotel, Deeds told supporters that the broad support he received was a sign of a united party, poised to carry the governor's mansion for the third election in a row.
"Whether it was in Abingdon or Arlington, Highland County or Henrico County, or right here in Thomas Jefferson's hometown of Charlottesville," said Deeds. "It was a vote to continue the progress we've made under Democratic governors Mark Warner and Tim Kaine."
Deeds was visibly overwhelmed by the result, shaking his head and grinning as he took the stage about an hour after McAuliffe and Moran had called him to concede the election. He even choked up before speaking of his humble roots.
"Only in the Commonwealth of Virginia, and only in the United States of America," said Deeds, "can the son of a mother who still works as a letter carrier in Bath County send her son off to college with four $20 bills and grow up to become the Democratic nominee to become Governor of Virginia."
The win puts him in position for a rematch with former attorney general Bob McDonnell, the Republican who beat Deeds by a slim margin of just 360 votes in the statewide AG contest in 2005. McDonnell stepped down to run for the governorship earlier this year.
Deeds told reporters he's not taking any time off before beginning his campaign for the general election.
"There's a Warren Zevon song called 'I'll Sleep When I'm Dead,'" Deeds said. "That's what I live by."
–updated at 10:16pm, original headline "It's Creigh says NYT"
7 comments
"It is said..." right. Creigh Deeds is no bumpkin. I'm pretty sure he knew quite well he would win. He's got the country charm, but he is as shrewd as they come.
I think Virginia voters saw right through Terry McAuliffe and found Moran to be a bit too liberal. Deeds, on the other hand, is just right. He'll make a great governor.
Fantastic ! Now we have a shot to continue the Kaine/Warner run and keep Virginia blue
Let's all take a moment to enjoy the fact that we could have had far worse canidates for governor. Truly either of them can be a good chief executive. I have always thought the one term governor is what makes this state so well managed.
"Three weeks ago, this was a two-man race between McAuliffe and Moran," said Quentin Kidd, a political science professor at Christopher Newport University. "Deeds was going to win the rural vote and that's it. People are going to be talking about how he pulled this off for weeks and months."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/06/09/AR200906...
my guess is the endorsement by the Washington Post had a lot to do with this win--it is said Deeds was asleep when his aide called to tell him and he said "that's not funny"
Creigh is "one of us." McDonnell is yet another country-club Republican frat boy with a sense of entitlement. If Deeds can use Jim Webb's Blue Ridge brand of Scotch-Irish progressive populism, this could be a real interesting match.
Virginia has a long history of excellent governors, from both parties. Congrats to Deeds.
Despite the many blogs in the lgbt community supporting Mr Moran, and the formal endorsement of Moran by the Virginia Partisans (the organization of lgbtq and allied Democratic partisans in Virginia), and gay mag stories about Mr Deeds as 'flip flopper' on lgbt issues, many of us strongly supported Deeds against the blog-blitz, knowing him to be agile - not flimsy - on our issues. Mr Deeds and his staff have been supportive when we've shared concerns, sought meetings, and requesed guidance. His agility bespeaks a keen mind, and kind heart, that is growing toward, not shrinking from, lgbt equality. And, in this, he is representative of many (and perhaps most) Virginia residents: learning more about lgbt issues, discovering more lgbt friends, coworkers and family members, and changing their minds and hearts from what they has thought in the past. In some religious or faith traditions this is called repentance, and is a powerful experience in many people's lives. Repentance is a way also to describe many social transformations in Virginia history, and law: Virginia law once codified overt racism; Virginia law once codified coerced institutionalization and sterilization of persons with mental illness, who have learning disabilitie, and who were apparently irreparably poor; Virginia law once codified oppression of women. Into recent history. Remember, for example, University of Virginia only admitted African Americans, and women, to attend the school, only under threat of court order, in living memory. And, Virginia prohibited Blacks from marrying Whites, in living memory, until the law was overturned by Supreme Court decision. Repentance sometimes comes when the signs of a Judgement Day draw nigh. There are increasingly signs of judgement in the American people, and in many corners of the world, that lgbt persons, families and communities ought to be provided equal rights and responsibilities as others, and that systematic oppression - such as the homophobic Consitutional Amendement - is destructive rather than protective of social values. Mr Deeds has spoken out about his change of mind and heart about lgbt issues. Mr McDonnell appears to stand arrogantly on unrepentant opinion. My thought is that Virginians understand and respect repentant sinners, and dislike arrogance (as some commentators have described Mr McAuliffe's approach to the campaign). We'll see won't we?