After eight terms and 32 years in office, state Sen. Chuck Colgan is facing what he calls the most challenging campaign of his political career against business owner Bob FitzSimmonds in the Manassas area’s 29th District.
While Colgan has returned to his “Rocky” boxing campaign theme and image as a conservative Democrat fighting for Prince William County’s infrastructure from their first matchup in 1999, FitzSimmonds, a Republican, has jabbed back, claiming Colgan hasn’t done enough to address illegal immigration and the booming area’s transportation woes.
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The expensive and closely watched campaign could be critical in the fight for control of the state Senate in Richmond, as it is viewed as the Republicans’ best pickup opportunity in Northern Virginia.
Democrats have responded by bringing former Gov. Mark Warner and current Gov. Tim Kaine to Gainesville and Manassas to praise the $600 million in transportation funding Colgan has delivered.
“The knowledge he brings to Richmond on fighting for Prince William is unprecedented,” Warner told The Examiner on Thursday. “What Chuck Colgan has always been able to do is work with people in both parties to get the job done, and that’s often a lost art in Richmond.”
But while Colgan is touting transportation programs, residents are still sitting in traffic and illegal immigration hasn’t been addressed, FitzSimmonds countered.
“The cities of Manassas and Manassas Park are just being slammed with illegal immigration,” FitzSimmonds said. “It’s not an issue of just a few people are concerned about it; everybody is.”
Colgan said his first anti-illegal immigration vote was in 1977 and added FitzSimmonds has distorted his record.
“It’s very difficult to argue against someone who hasn’t done anything,” Colgan said.
That both campaigns have invested more than $450,000 in the race and Warner is stumping for Colgan is a signal of how well FitzSimmonds has run, said Shaun Kenney, spokesman for the Republican Party of Virginia.
“It’s your canary in the coal mine,” Kenney said. “If FitzSimmonds wins, [the Democrats] won’t win the Senate.”
