Decision Virginia

The race for the House of Delegates seat in the 73rd district, which encompasses parts of the City of Richmond and Henrico has become emblematic of the larger war being fought over control of the chamber.

Tom Shields is a new face, carrying a democratic moniker of change and fresh leadership that he is hoping still resonates in the wake of Barack Obama’s powerful win. Shields is getting quite a bit of support from state Democratic party leaders and if successful, would represent a major pickup for the left.

Incumbent, John O’Bannon, a republican, refuses to accept that his 30 years in the community can be swept away with just a little bit of effort in one election cycle. He reminded me last night that he beat a field of 6 candidates to capture the seat originally and he is more than capable of beating back this opponent as well.

I spoke briefly with both candidates prior to their debate last night at the University of Richmond, but had to leave before the debate really got going.

Here is an excerpt of the report filed by the UR college paper the Collegian on the debate followed by a link to their entire story. I hope to post my complete uncut interviews with both candidates at a later date.

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House of Delegate candidates debate on campus
By: Reilly Moore

The Virginia House of Delegates election made a stop at the University of Richmond earlier tonight during a 73rd district debate in the Alice Haynes Room.

Republican incumbent Del. John M. O’Bannon, who has held the 73rd district seat in the House of Delegates for the past eight years, joined his opponent, University of Richmond professor Tom Shields, during a 90-minute debate. About 150 students, faculty and community members attended.

The candidates fielded questions from moderator Dan Palazzolo, a University of Richmond political science professor, about health care, transportation, education and the economy. Eight questions were written by Palazzolo before the debate and an additional eight were submitted by audience members. The candidates also both delivered opening and closing statements.

Read the full article by clicking here.

(h/t to Jimmy Young the online managing editor for The Collegian for the use of the article)

As promised, the entire uncut interviews with both candidates from the night of the debate are below:

Del. John O’Bannon (R)

Tom Shields (D)

Incumbent Del. John O’Bannon (R) will face off against his challenger Tom Shields (D) in a debate tonight (Thursday) at the University of Richmond. Both candidates have deep connections to the West End campus. Shields is currently a professor at the institution and Del. O’Bannon is an alum. The college is also in the heart of the district and its interest are front and center for any person representing that area.

Shields is part of a crop of new democratic candidates hoping to knock off long time republicans with the goal of shrinking or even perhaps swinging control of the House of Delegates. O’Bannon, a physician, is not taking Shields for granted in any way. He has a full-time campaign staff that keep the press regularly updated on his activity and the candidate himself has been pressing the flesh like a freshman on his first re-election bid.

It is also worth noting that our political analyst and my good friend Dr. Dan Palazzolo will be moderating the debate.

I hope to get over there for some of the debate and hope to have an update later tonight.

Details on the event can be found after the jump…

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He has already spent many hours cris-crossing the 73rd district of Virginia, but today University of Richmond Professor Tom Shields officially kicked off his challenge to Republican incumbent John O’Bannon.

Shields is part of a group of serious challengers to Republican House members across the state, as the Democrats attempt to take control of the lower house of the General Assembly. It’s a position they have not been in since reconstruction.

While Shields has attempted to run a relatively upbeat campaign, he has not been afraid to go on the attack of his opponent. Shields has characterized O’Bannon, a neurologist from Henrico, as “out of touch”. He has also taken advantage of a coordinated attack, hatched by the Democratic Party of Virginia, to slap incumbent Republicans that prevented the Commonwealth from taking advantage of stimulus funds connected to unemployment insurance.

Shields struck a tone of independent leadership in his announcement before about 75 supporters at  Tuckahoe Elementary School.  He laid out a vision he claims goes above party labels to improve the economy, education and health care. Not surprisingly, his opponent didn’t agree. O’Bannon said the Shields roll-out was nothing more than a negative attack.

“Usually some time lapses between a candidate’s announcement and the initiating of negative campaigning,” O’Bannon said in a statement today.  “Judging from his comments today, Mr. Shields is content to misrepresent and – in some instances – falsify my record before explaining to voters his own plans.”

And Shields was not afraid to draw differences between his campaign and how he views O’Bannon.  “Time and again, O’Bannon has put his party leaders and the special interests above families in his own district,” said Shields.  “I believe that the 73rd district deserves a new generation of independent leadership, and I look forward to a serious debate about the major issues facing Virginia.”

O’Bannon’s district is as reliably red as any in Virginia. However, the district did vote for Barack Obama last fall, as well as supporting Tim Kaine as well. It looks as though both of these candidates will not go down without a fight. There is a good chance though, that the overall mood of the state could have more to do with who wins in Henrico than the personalities of either of these candidates.

The Shields release and the O’Bannon response can be found after the jump..

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