The (Norfolk) Virginian-Pilot

Jody Wagner arrives at a restaurant Tuesday in Virginia Beach. She won the Democratic nomination for lieutenant governor.

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VIRGINIA BEACH -- Virginia Beach lawyer and businesswoman Jody Wagner coasted to an easy win in Tuesday's primary to become the Democratic nominee for lieutenant governor.

Wagner defeated Mike Signer, her only remaining opponent in what began as a four-way race, by more than a 3-1 margin. She rolled up comfortable margins in every part of the state including Northern Virginia, Signer's home base.

She wasted no time going on the offensive against her Republican opponent this fall, incumbent Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling.

"This is only the qualifier," she told a cheering crowd of supporters. "Now we have to run the real race."

She cast herself as a pragmatic problem-solver in the mold of governors Tim Kaine and Mark Warner, both Democrats.

For voters this fall, she said, "the choice is clear: Pick somebody who's going to work to fix our problems or somebody who's going to be ideological and stand in the way. I look forward to that comparison."

Wagner linked Bolling to Warner's Republican predecessor, Jim Gilmore, whom Democrats blame for driving the state budget into a ditch. She referred to Gilmore's legacy as "the Gilmore-Bolling financial disaster."

She said she will work to bring "21st-century businesses" such as renewable energy enterprises to Virginia, expand pre-kindergarten education and seek a bipartisan solution to the state's transportation problems.

A spokesman for Bolling called Wagner "inexperienced" and said Bolling's 18 years in local and state government make him the best-qualified candidate.

Wagner, 53, served as Kaine's secretary of finance and as state treasurer under Warner. She and her husband, Dr. Alan Wagner, own Jody's, a popcorn and confections shop on Virginia Beach's oceanfront. They live in Virginia Beach and have four children. She ran unsuccessfully for Congress in 2000.

Signer, 36, is an attorney and a national security policy fellow at Third Way, a Washington-based think tank. He was a deputy counsel in the Warner administration and a policy adviser for President Obama's campaign. He is single and lives in Arlington County.

Wagner campaigned on her government experience and knowledge of the state budget. Signer portrayed himself as an "aggressive progressive" who would be a public advocate as lieutenant governor.

The lieutenant governor's only constitutional duties are to preside over the state Senate and cast tie-breaking votes, but the office can be a springboard to the governorship.

Wagner outraised Signer by nearly 3 to 1, according to the Virginia Public Access Project, a nonprofit organization that tracks campaign contributions. Wagner brought in $1.1 million; Signer, about $400,000.

Russell County Supervisor Jon Bowerbank and Virginia Beach School Board member Pat Edmonson began the race but withdrew. Bowerbank's exit came too late for his name to be taken off the ballot.