Petersen Would Open Six Regional LG Offices

The race for the Democratic nomination for lieutenant governor is confounding even the sharpest of political observers these days. Indeed, with four candidates representing three areas of the state--and each claiming they've got the right political and regional formula to win on June 14--it does appear to be a race that will keep the hands wringing until late in the evening on Primary Day (Just 15 days off!).

So in an apparent attempt to break himself away from the competition, Del. J. Chapman Petersen of Fairfax announced this morning that, if elected, he'll break up the LG's office and set up six "regional offices" around the state to do the good work of the people, literally on Main Street. You can pretty much guess the locales: Northern Virginia, Tidewater, Southside, the Shenandoah Valley, central Virginia and Southwest Virginia. Petersen is facing former state senator Leslie L. Byrne (Fairfax), Del. Viola O. Baskerville (Richmond) and Sen. Phillip P. Puckett (Russell) for the bid.

The state's number two job is usually a low-key gig--presiding over the Senate, breaking ties in the chamber--so Petersen seems to be trying to make it, well, a bit more populist. He said as much in his statement during a press conference at the state Capitol this morning.

"By having a statewide presence, we will take the lieutenant governor from a ceremonial post in Richmond to a statewide advocate for the people of Virginia," Petersen said.

Petersen, of course,  has already broken from the norm by bouncing around the state in an RV, racking up thousands of miles as he's gone from Arlington to Abingdon.

No word yet if he's going to keep the RV if he wins in November so that he can get from office to office.

By Chris Jenkins |  May 31, 2005; 1:20 PM ET  | Category:  Democrats
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Posted by: Will Vehrs | June 1, 2005 07:57 PM

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