HAMPTON, Va. – Freshman Democratic Rep. Glenn Nye and Republican political newcomer Scott Rigell are struggling to win votes from the important military voting bloc on Virginia’s Eastern Shore, with
polls showing neither candidate likely to break ahead before an election Republicans are counting on to win back control of the U.S. House.
The latest poll shows Nye with 41 percent of votes compared with Rigell’s 41.5 percent in the small district hugging the mouth of the Chesapeake, which encompasses Virginia Beach, the Eastern Shore, and parts of Norfolk and Hampton. Twelve percent of voters are undecided, and 5 percent say they would vote for independent candidate Kenny Golden, according to the poll by the Virginian-Pilot and Channel 13 News.
Nye, a 36-year-old former foreign service officer, defeated Republican incumbent Thelma Drake in 2008 with record Obama-driven turnout and a pro-military agenda aimed at the region’s 300,000 military personnel, veterans and their families, which make up about one-fourth of voters.
This year, Nye has excluded Obama from his campaign, risking turnout among 150,000 black voters — who still overwhelmingly support Obama — to avoid alienating military voters.
Defense Secretary Robert Gates shook Nye’s platform in August when he announced his intent to close the Joint Forces Command, which is based in Hampton Roads and employs more than 6,000.
Rigell saddled Nye with the blame for Gates’ proposal, but Nye said he did not know about the decision until it was made public.
In a stump speech for Rigell last week, 2008 Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee said if Congress has to “dismantle the Washington Monument and sell every last stone as a souvenir to pay to make sure that we honor our commitment to veterans, I’m convinced Scott will ensure that happens.”
Rigell, 50, is a former Marine Corps Reserve sergeant who owns three car dealerships.
The Republican is branding his opponent as a minion to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, whose sour ratings have become a driving force behind Republicans’ struggle to regain control of the House.
Rigell also blasts Nye for supporting the $787 billion federal stimulus bill.
“Folks who are in a wash, they truly believe that massive deficit spending is the path to job creation,” Rigell said.
Nye points out that Rigell’s dealerships cashed in on the federal Cash for Clunkers program to the tune of $444,000.
“That seems to be what his entire campaign is centered around — attacking Nancy Pelosi and the stimulus,” Nye said. “I know Scott doesn’t like [the stimulus], but he used it.”
Nye touts that he voted with Democrats 83 percent of the time — notably opposing cap-and-trade energy legislation and the health care overhaul — during his two years in office.
“I said I’d be independent, and that’s what I’ve done,” Nye said during the final debate of the campaign.
