Wednesday, June 13, 2007
Former Roanoke mayor wins GOP primary
Ralph Smith beat out the incumbent despite securing much less campaign funding.
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roanoke.com/politics
Josh Meltzer | The Roanoke Times
Republican primary winner for the state Senate Ralph Smith gets a congratulatory hug from friend and supporter Cathy Gause at 419 restaurant, where he celebrated a close victory Tuesday night over incumbent Brandon Bell.
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TimesCast analysis | full election results
GOP incumbents faced challenges within party
Former Roanoke Mayor Ralph Smith won a hotly contested race Tuesday for the 22nd Senate District Republican nomination, beating incumbent Brandon Bell by a narrow margin.
Smith, who raised less than a quarter of the money Bell did in campaign funding, now faces Democrat Michael Breiner in the Nov. 6 general election.
"I think everybody would say I'd be the favorite -- simply because it is a strong [Republican] district," Smith said.
Bell said he will support Smith in the general election. But, he said, Smith's win could attract the attention of state Democrats, who hope to win at least three seats to split or take a majority in the Senate.
"It just became an open seat," Bell said. "Any time you have an open seat without an incumbent, it makes for a tough race."
Breiner, a Roanoke County plastic surgeon who raised more money than the two Republicans combined during the last filing period, said Tuesday's outcome doesn't matter to him.
"It really doesn't change much for me," Breiner said. "I'm happy to run against anyone. Does it make it easier for me? We'll find out in November."
Smith credited his win to a refusal to stray from his stated principles, staying "rock solid," to quote his campaign slogan.
"I've always said I was one thing: I'll tell you what I stand for, if it's popular or not," Smith said.
Bell said the difficulties faced by Republican incumbents this spring are the demonstration of a "great unrest" affecting the party at the state and national level.
Ed Lynch is chairman of the Roanoke County Republican Committee and an associate professor of political science at Hollins University.
"I think you're seeing that in the Senate races the conservative Republicans are taking an active role, they're flexing their muscles and they're asserting their power within the party," Lynch said.
Though he acknowledged state Democrats likely will target the race, Lynch said that Smith's conservatism should make it easier, not more difficult, for him to defeat Breiner in November.
"I think it's moderate Republicans who have more trouble winning against determined Democrats," Lynch said.
Smith won most of his votes in Botetourt County, where he moved in 2005 with the plan to run for Lacey Putney's seat in the House of Delegates.
Turnout there was more than 8 percent -- the highest in the district.
In Roanoke County and Salem, turnout was just under 7 percent. That may sound low, but by 4 p.m. in Roanoke County, turnout had already surpassed last year's total for the Democratic primary between Harris Miller and Jim Webb for a U.S. Senate seat, according to Roanoke County registrar Judy Stokes.
There was even less turnout in the New River Valley, where Bell won heavy margins.
"What little bit I got to look at the returns is that I did really poorly in the New River Valley," Smith said. "It's a matter of they didn't know me. That tells me I need to spend more time in that area."
Bell and Smith carried out much of their campaign through signs and e-mails to Republican activists. Over the past few weeks, Bell also purchased television ads that ran in heavy rotation on local newscasts.
Smith cast Bell as a RINO (Republican in Name Only). He portrayed Bell as a closeted liberal who supported a failed tax increase to pay for transportation costs in 2006.
Though Bell raised $253,200 during the campaign, compared with Smith's $59,500, Smith managed to use that as an attack as well. He pointed to the number of out-of-district contributions as evidence Bell was "in the pocket of the big boys."
This week, more sparks flew as a group called Republican Officials Against RINOS (ROAR) sent out e-mails saying that Equality Virginia, an organization that advocates equal rights for homosexuals, was supporting Bell.
Dyana Mason, Equality Virginia's executive director, acknowledged the group had indeed contacted district residents to support Bell, in spite of the fact he supported a state constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage.
"We know people won't be 100 percent on our issues," Mason said. "But we'll support someone who we believe we'll have an opportunity to work with in the future. His opponent is not someone who we believe we'd have that opportunity with."
Mason said Bell had not solicited Equality Virginia's support, but that the race was one of four Republican primaries in which the group was advocating a candidate.
Roanoke lawyer David Nixon, who sent out the ROAR press release, wrote that the endorsement showed Bell "is not the conservative he professes to be."
On the Net: www.breinerforsenate.com www.ralphsmithsenate.com
