Virginia United States Senate election, 2006

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The Virginia Senate election of 2006 was held on November 7, 2006. James H. Webb, the Democratic candidate, narrowly defeated Republican incumbent George Allen and will represent Virginia in the United States Senate from January 3, 2007 to January 3, 2013.

The election was not decided until nearly 48 hours after the polls closed, when Allen, behind by a margin of about 0.3%, conceded on November 9, 2006. With all of the other Senate races decided, the outcome effectively swung control of the Senate to the Democrats.^[1]

Allen, who previously served as Governor of Virginia and was considered a possible candidate for president in 2008, was running for his second term.

Webb, a decorated Vietnam War veteran, writer and former Secretary of the Navy under Ronald Reagan, had defeated IT lobbyist Harris Miller in the June 13, 2006 primary election.

Gail Parker, a businesswoman, retired Air Force officer, and retired Pentagon budget analyst, ran as the Independent Green Party candidate.

Polls clearly favored Allen through mid-August, when he was caught on videotape on August 11 using what critics deemed an ethnic slur in describing a Webb campaign volunteer, S.R. Sidarth, who is of Indian ancestry. Allen denied any prejudice in the comment, but his lead shrank considerably. Still, he led in most polls until late October, when several surveys showed Webb with a lead — mostly within the margin of error.

Contents 1 Election results 2 Democratic primary 3 Independent Green Party of Virginia candidate 4 General election campaign 4.1 Candidate positions 4.2 Finances 5 Debates 5.1 Meet the Press debate 5.2 League of Women Voters debate 6 Controversies 6.1 Allen's Barr Labs investment 6.2 Allen's macaca controversy 6.3 Webb's Reagan ad 6.4 Allen at Fairfax County Republican Committee's ethnic rally 6.5 Webb's stance on women in combat 6.6 Allen's remarks about his Jewish heritage 6.7 PAC ad on Allen's body armor vote 6.8 Allen's alleged use of racial epithets 6.9 Sons of Confederate Veterans 6.10 Webb's use of ethnic epithets 6.11 Allen's undisclosed business interests 6.12 Webb's name truncated on ballots 6.13 Explicit passages from Webb novels 6.14 Allen's arrest warrant records 6.15 Allen supporters attack blogger 6.16 Telephone intimidation 7 Virginia's changing politics 8 Polling 9 See also 10 External links 10.1 Campaign websites 11 References

[edit] Election results

Official results as of Monday, November 27, 2006. ^[2]

2006 United States Senate election, Virginia
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	James H. Webb	1,175,606	49.6	+1.9
	Republican	George F. Allen (incumbent)	1,166,277	49.2	-3.1
	Independent Green	Gail Parker	26,102	1.1	n/a
	Write-ins		2,460	0.1	0
Majority			9,329	0.4
Turnout			2,370,445	52.0
	Democratic gain from Republican		Swing

At 8:41 PM EST on November 8, AP declared Webb the winner.^[3] In all Virginia elections, if the margin of defeat is less than half of a percentage point, the Commonwealth of Virginia allows the apparent losing candidate to request a recount, paid for by the local jurisdictions. If the margin of defeat is between one and one-half of a percentage point, the losing candidate is still entitled to request a recount, but must cover its expense.^[4][5] Because the difference was less than 0.5%, George Allen could have requested a recount paid for by the government; however, he chose not to do so. The reasoning for Allen's decision not to call for a recount was likely based on two things.

• Even in large jurisdictions, recounts - such as those in Florida in 2000 and Washington's 2004 gubernatorial election - rarely result in a swing of more than 1,000 votes, and Allen was trailing by almost 10,000 in the initial count. In particular, almost all votes in this Virginia election were cast using electronic voting machines, whose results are unlikely to change in a recount.
• There was wide speculation that calling for a recount (and still losing) would give Allen a "sore loser" label, which would hurt his future election campaigns, including what some speculated might still involve a 2008 presidential run. However, after losing the senatorial election, on December 10, 2006, Allen announced that he would not be running for president in 2008.

[edit] Democratic primary

Both Webb and Miller received endorsements from within the party, with most of Webb's coming from national Democrats while most of Miller's came from local Democrats. Webb received a campaign contribution from Senator Harry Reid, the Democratic leader in the Senate, and former leader Tom Daschle. He also received the endorsement of Senator Richard Durbin, the Democratic Whip; former Senator Bob Kerrey; Representative John Murtha; former Representative Leslie Byrne, General Wesley Clark, Senator John Kerry, Representative Owen Pickett, former State Delegate Chap Petersen, and eleven of the members of former Senator Chuck Robb's staff.^[6] Miller was endorsed by a large number of Virginia state senators and the Alexandria city council. Miller also received the endorsement of Kate Michelman, the only abortion-rights endorsement in the primary.^[7]

The week before the primary, Miller said a Webb campaign flier characterized him in an anti-Semitic way; Webb denied that it did.^[8]

Federal Election Commission reports show that in the first part of 2006, Miller raised more than twice as much money as Webb, who entered the race in February. (Miller contributed over $1 million to his own campaign, 60% of what he raised.^[9])

The primary was held on June 13, 2006. Webb was the winner, garnering 53.5% of the vote to Miller's 46.5%. The election was the only significant race on the ballot, and was marked by low turnout: only 3.44% of registered Virginia voters cast ballots. Against predictions to the contrary, Miller did better in the more conservative areas of the state.

[edit] Independent Green Party of Virginia candidate

Gail Parker is state secretary of the Independent Green Party of Virginia, which is unaffiliated with and generally more conservative than the national Green Party.^[10] In 2005, she ran as a candidate for Virginia State delegate for the 44th district, receiving 3.3% of the vote.^[11] For the 2006 election, Parker's party collected more than 20,000 signatures, leading the Virginia state board of elections to place her on the ballot on May 23.

On October 27, 2006, it was reported that Parker was considering dropping out of the race. She was said to have been contacting both Allen's and Webb's campaigns to discuss further details. ^[12]

[edit] General election campaign

[edit] Candidate positions

Webb focused on his early and outspoken opposition to the war in Iraq, which Allen supported. In a September 4, 2002, Washington Post opinion piece, Webb wrote: "A long-term occupation of Iraq would beyond doubt require an adjustment of force levels elsewhere, and could eventually diminish American influence in other parts of the world."^[13] Webb’s son, a U.S. Marine, is serving in Iraq.

Allen and Webb differed on other issues. Allen is pro-life; Webb, pro-choice. Allen supported George W. Bush’s tax cuts while Webb said more of the benefits should have gone to middle-class Americans.^[14] Both candidates support the death penalty, right-to-work laws, and Second Amendment rights.

[edit] Finances

Allen retained a substantial lead in fundraising: $6.6 million on hand to Webb’s $1.1 million through 15 September 2006.^[15]

[edit] Debates

[edit] Meet the Press debate

On September 17, Allen and Webb appeared on NBC's Meet the Press for a debate. Part of the program's debate series on the midterm elections, the debate heavily discussed both the original Gulf War and the present war in Iraq. Host Tim Russert questioned Webb about his initial support for Allen's 2000 U.S. Senate run, as well as what led him to later oppose Allen. Russert also questioned Allen about a remark Webb made concerning his interactions with Allen at the start of the Iraq conflict. Webb asserted that he approached Allen regarding U.S. involvement in the region and cautioned against military action. Webb also claimed that Allen responded to this by saying "You’re asking me to be disloyal to the president." After being questioned on this by Russert, Allen clarified by saying "No, it’s loyalty to this country, and making sure that our country is unified in, in this, in this effort to disarm Saddam Hussein. That was the point." Allen also addressed what he saw as a weakness in Webb, claiming his opponent wanted to withdraw from Iraq. Webb clarified his belief that the U.S. has a commitment to ensure Iraq is stable before withdrawing, but also reasserted that a permanent U.S. presence in Iraq is not an option.

The debate likewise covered an upcoming vote on the use of coercive interrogation methods on enemy combatants. Allen stated that he had not yet made a decision on how to vote, but stated "Now, the key in all of this is I don’t want to stop these interrogations. I’m not for torture, I’m not for waterboarding, but some of these techniques have been very helpful to us, whether, whether they are sleep deprivation, or whether there’s loud music. And I need to be absolutely certain that what the interrogations—interrogators are doing now—which is completely fine as far as I’m concerned, protecting Americans—will not be harmed by the proposal." Webb expressed that this was an issue close to him as a former soldier, but also stated that he did not believe interrogations should be ended completely. Webb however reaffirmed his concerns that if the U.S. abandons the Geneva Convention its soldiers will suffer abroad.

Russert questioned Webb on the recent allegations that his 1979 Washingtonian article fostered hostility towards female students at the Naval Academy. Webb responded as he had in prior press releases, expressing his regret for the repercussions of the article. Russert similarly asked Allen about a statement he made in 2000 in the pages of American Enterprise magazine: "If [Virginia Military Institute] admitted women, it wouldn’t be the VMI that we’ve known for 154 years. You just don’t treat women the way you treat fellow cadets. If you did, it would be ungentlemanly, it would be improper." Allen responded that VMI has made great progress in a co-ed curriculum, making women cadets more of a possibility than at the time he made the statement.^[16]

[edit] League of Women Voters debate

On October 9, 2006, the League of Women Voters sponsored a debate between Allen and Webb. The format consisted of the candidates answering series of questions from the moderator, from the LWV panel, and finally from each other. Largely, the responses from the candidates did not expand on the body of knowledge already present in their television and radio commercials. The overall feel of the debate was somewhat combative, with Allen frequently going overtime on responses and a round of uncontrolled verbal jousting after Allen cited Webb's prior statements on raising taxes.

[edit] Controversies

[edit] Allen's Barr Labs investment

On August 8, 2006, it was reported that Allen, who opposes abortion rights, owned stock in Barr Laboratories, maker of the Plan B "morning after pill", an emergency contraceptive intended to prevent pregnancy if taken within 72 hours of intercourse. The Webb campaign criticized Allen for holding stock in a company that makes a product that many of his supporters oppose. Allen responded by saying that he holds the stock because Barr Labs has created jobs in Virginia, and by pointing to his consistently pro-life voting record. Allen has no plans to sell the stock.^[17]

[edit] Allen's macaca controversy

On Friday, August 11, 2006, Allen twice called S.R. Sidarth, a 20-year-old Webb campaign volunteer, macaca. Sidarth is of Indian ancestry, but was born and raised in Fairfax County, Virginia. As a "tracker" for the opposing Webb campaign, Sidarth was filming an Allen campaign stop in Breaks, Virginia, near the Kentucky border.

During a speech, Allen paused, then began referring to Sidarth:

This fellow here over here with the yellow shirt, Macaca, or whatever his name is. He's with my opponent. He's following us around everywhere. And it's just great. We're going to places all over Virginia, and he's having it on film and it's great to have you here and you show it to your opponent because he's never been there and probably will never come. [...] Let's give a welcome to Macaca, here. Welcome to America and the real world of Virginia.[19]

According to Sidarth, he was the only person of color present among the crowd of 100 or so Republican supporters, some of whom applauded Allen's remarks.^[19]

The Webb campaign accused Allen of using a racial insult; macaca has been identified as a Francophone epithet for North African indigenes, and commentators have suggested that he may have heard the slur from his mother, Henrietta "Etty" Allen, who is a pied-noir, or North African (in Allen's case, a Tunisian) of French descent.^[20] During a televised debate on September 18, reporter Peggy Fox asked Allen if he had learned the slur from his mother; Etty Allen denied that she had ever used the word before.^[21] The word has different meanings in other languages, for example, the word macaca/macaco means fool, clown, simpleton in Italian.^[22]

According to the Washington Post, Allen's campaign manager initially dismissed the incident with an expletive. Allen later said that he had heard his staff use the term macaca in reference to Sidarth, that he did not know what the word meant, and that he did not intend to insult Sidarth's ethnicity when he singled him out to the crowd. "I do apologize if he's offended by that," Allen said, adding that "I would never want to demean him as an individual."^[19]

Shortly after, Allen's campaign held that he used the word in reference to Sidarth's hairstyle. Although Sidarth was wearing a baseball cap on the day of the incident,^[23] he had been conversing casually with Allen's aides during campaign stops before the incident.^[24] Allen's campaign staff claim to have referred to him privately as "Mohawk".^[19] A now widely disseminated photo of Sidarth,^[25] hosted by the Webb campaign, shows Sidarth's hair to be longer in the middle and shaved on the sides, typical of a mohawk.

On August 15, 2006, John Reid, Allen's communications director, told the New York Times that members of Allen's campaign had "good-naturedly" nicknamed Sidarth "Mohawk" when speaking among themselves, but could not explain how the word might have morphed into macaca.^[26] Reid told the Times that Sidarth only received a nickname from Allen campaign staff because he would not give his real name. Interviewed that day on CNN, however, Sidarth recalled shaking Allen's hand earlier in the week and giving his name. "He's very good with names, legendarily. He tries very hard to remember peoples' names when meeting them," Sidarth said. As for the macaca remark, "I am disappointed that someone like a Senator of the United States could use something [so] completely offensive."^[27]

On August 16, 2006, the National Journal reported that two Virginia Republicans who heard the word used by Allen's campaign staff said macaca was a neologism created from mohawk and caca, Spanish and French slang for excrement. The National Journal quoted a Republican close to the campaign saying, "In other words, [Sidarth] was a shit-head, an annoyance."^[28]

By August 20, 2006, Allen began insisting that he had never before heard the word, and that he simply made it up, contrary to original explanations from Allen and his staff.^[29][16][30]

After several public apologies, Allen called Sidarth twelve days after the incident, on August 23, to apologize directly for his remarks. Allen's campaign manager Dick Wadhams has continued to blame opponent Webb, the media, and Allen's "leftist" foes for a "feeding frenzy."^[31] The incident reduced Allen's once-broad polling margin over Webb to single digits.^[32]

On September 19, John Podhoretz used the name "Felix Macacawitz" as a headline for a post in the The National Review blog "The Corner."^[33] It became a popular nickname for Allen.^[34] On October 4, Weed for Congress field organizer Meryl Ibis resigned after she used the name in an email to supporters of Weed.^[35]

[edit] Webb's Reagan ad

On September 7, 2006, Webb released his first television advertisement.^[36] It featured footage of a 1985 speech by Ronald Reagan praising Webb at the secretary's alma mater, the United States Naval Academy in 1985.

The next day, an official working for the Reagan Presidential Foundation faxed a letter to Webb's campaign on behalf of former first lady Nancy Reagan, urging them not to air the advertisement.^[37] In response, Webb told reporters that Allen could go to the Reagan library to find something Reagan said in support of him.^{[citation needed]}

The Webb advertisement also aired in Norfolk, Roanoke, and Northern Virginia.

The Reagan Library has asked other political campaigns to pull advertising involving the former president's image. In 2004, it criticized the conservative Club for Growth for an advertisement comparing George W. Bush to Reagan.^[38]

On September 15, 2006, a Washington Post editorial supported Webb's advertisement and chided the Allen campaign for crying foul, saying that neither protest by Allen's campaign or Reagan's Library (later corrected to the Reagan Presidential Foundation) has any merit:

The president is a public official, paid by the taxpayers. His speeches are in the public domain; they belong to all Americans, and to history. His words may fairly be the subject of bitter debate and divergent interpretation for decades or centuries to come, but they should not be censored posthumously. In this instance, Mr. Webb has neither distorted Mr. Reagan's words nor taken them out of context; nor did Mr. Reagan ever repudiate them.[37]

[edit] Allen at Fairfax County Republican Committee's ethnic rally

On September 9, 2006, Allen attended, along with other Republican elected officals and candidates for public office, an "ethnic community rally" at Thomas Edison High School in Fairfax County, Virginia. The Fairfax County Republican Committee, together with several ethnically-based Republican groups, had sponsored this event for the past several years. Participating organizations included local Republican groups drawn from the Asian American, African American, and Hispanic American communities, among others. A small group of protesters demonstrated outside the high school, including one activist dressed in a gorilla costume as a reference to Allen's macaca remark. One protester said she was there "to let him [George Allen] know that racism is not acceptable", while another protester suggested that Allen was "holding a fake diversity rally".^[39]

Both Allen and Webb's supporters video-recorded the event. Webb supporters claim the videos show more white faces than non-white.^[40] However, The Virginian-Pilot described the crowd as chiefly Asian-American. ^[41]

[edit] Webb's stance on women in combat

On September 13, 2006, five female graduates of the United States Naval Academy had a press conference promoted by the Allen campaign to assail a Washingtonian article Webb wrote in 1979. They accuse Webb of fostering an air of hostility and harassment towards females within the academy. In the article, entitled "Women Can't Fight", Webb described his personal experiences in the Vietnam War as a U.S. Marine infantry officer, and explained why he believed combat was an inappropriate environment for women. Webb also wrote that he had never met a woman "whom [he] would trust to provide those men with combat leadership". The article also characterized the Naval Academy dormitory situation as "a horny woman's dream", due to the ratio of men to women being 4,000 to 300 at the time.

The five women, who attended the Naval Academy from the late 1970s to early 1980s, asserted that the article led to male midshipmen constantly harrassing and humiliating them. Some even went so far as to wear "Jim Webb Fan Club" t-shirts.

In response to the allegations, Webb's campaign released a statement that he wrote the article during a time of great emotional debate over a wide array of social issues in this country, and the tone of this article was no exception. He added that he is "completely comfortable" with the present roles of women within the Naval Academy and the modern military. Webb expressed that at the time he wrote the article he did not anticipate its effects, "and to the extent that my writing subjected women at the Academy or the active Armed Forces to undue hardship, I remain profoundly sorry."^[42]

Allen himself has come under fire for similar attitudes he supported regarding the Virginia Military Institute. Allen remarked in 2000 that women "should not be in foxholes", and that "[t]he purpose of the armed services is not to be a social experiment". ^[43] A 2000 candidate-guide published by the Virginian-Pilot reiterated this stance of Allen's.^[44]

[edit] Allen's remarks about his Jewish heritage

In the wake of the Macaca controversy, the Jewish periodical The Forward reported that in all likelihood, Allen's mother Etty Allen, née Henrietta Lumbroso, was Jewish "from the august Sephardic Jewish Lumbroso family",^[45] and that therefore by the Jewish legal rule of matrilineal descent, Allen himself would be considered Jewish.

On September 18, 2006, Allen and Webb debated each other at the Fairfax County Chamber of Commerce.^[46] One of the more interesting aspects of this debate came when Allen was questioned by WUSA-TV anchor Peggy Fox. Fox said: "It has been reported [that] your grandfather Felix, whom you were given your middle name for, was Jewish. Could you please tell us whether your forebears include Jews and, if so, at which point Jewish identity might have ended?" This led to a booing from the crowd and anger from Allen who admonished Fox for "making aspersions" and responded: "To be getting into what religion my mother is, I don't think is relevant...Why is that relevant -- my religion, Jim's religion or the religious beliefs of anyone out there?"^[47] The next day, Allen issued a statement confirming his mother's Jewish ancestry. The statement read:

I was raised as a Christian and my mother was raised as a Christian. And I embrace and take great pride in every aspect of my diverse heritage, including my Lumbroso family line’s Jewish heritage, which I learned about from a recent magazine article and my mother confirmed.[48]

Allen also told the Richmond Times-Dispatch, in a reference to kosher dieting, "I still had a ham sandwich for lunch. And my mother made great pork chops."^[49] The Washington Post reported that Allen's mother feared retribution against her family if her religious and ethnic background became public, and had originally asked Allen to keep that information private.^[50] Although no mention is made of her mother's religion in Allen's sister's book, she does mention that the Catholic Church, before marrying the couple, required Allen's parents to agree that any children would be raised Catholic, and as a result they decided to be married by a justice of the peace in the home of a Jewish friend.^[45]

[edit] PAC ad on Allen's body armor vote

In mid-September, Vote Vets PAC, a political action committee formed in 2006 that is primarily composed of former Iraq and Afghanistan veterans, released a television advertisement criticizing Allen for voting against body armor for US troops in 2003.^[51] The claim was based on Allen's vote against a Democratic amendment that would have increased National Guard funding for body armor.

Various organizations subsequently attempted to assess the validity of the claim. The Arizona Republic ran a piece headlined "VoteVets ad is pure deceit."^[52] FactCheck.org said the ad contained "false claims."^[53] But Media Matters said Allen voted against troop body armor not once, but twice.^[54]

In March 2003, Allen voted against a bill that "targets shortfalls identified by the National Guard and Reserve in their Unfunded Requirement lists," including the shortage of helmets, tents, bullet-proof inserts, and tactical vests.^{[citation needed]} On October 2, 2003, Allen voted against a Democratic amendmentby Senator Christopher Dodd to add $322 million to the $300 million (for body armor and battlefield cleanup) that the Senate Appropriations Committee had already attached to an $87 billion emergency supplemental bill.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Allen's alleged use of racial epithets

Main article: George Allen - Allegations of Allen's use of racial slur in college

Salon published a story in late September reporting that three of Allen's former college football teammates said that during the 1970s, Allen repeatedly used an inflammatory racial epithet and demonstrated racist attitudes toward blacks. ^[55] On September 29, Edward Sabornie, a professor at North Carolina State University who had been in Allen's class and played football with him, decided to go on record with his allegations. Sabornie had commented under condition of anonymity in Salon's previous article about Allen's use of the slur. In that article, he was described as a "white teammate" and commented that using racial epithets "was so common with George when he was among his white friends. [It was] the terminology he used." Sabornie also recalled Allen as having referred to blacks as "roaches" and Latinos as "wetbacks".^[56]

Following the first Salon article, pundit Larry Sabato, who attended the University of Virginia at the same time as Allen, stated on a televised interview that Allen used the epithet.^[57] Allen called the claims "ludicrously false", explaining, "[t]he story and [Shelton's] comments and assertions in [the claim] are completely false. I don't remember ever using that word and it is absolutely false that that was ever part of my vocabulary."^[58]

[edit] Sons of Confederate Veterans

On September 28, 2006 the Sons of Confederate Veterans criticized Allen when the group claimed Allen criticized Southern heritage by stating that he had come to recognize that the Confederate Battle flag had negative racial overtones.^[59]

[edit] Webb's use of ethnic epithets

In late September, Webb was asked if he had ever used the "N-word". Webb replied that "I don't think that there's anyone who grew up around the South that hasn't had the word pass through their lips at one time in their life." Webb noted that that word and a lot of other epithets were in Fields of Fire, a novel Webb wrote about the Vietnam War.^[60]

Allen campaign officials referred reporters to Dan Cragg, a former acquaintance of Webb's. Cragg said that Webb told him in 1983 that Webb and members of his ROTC unit at the University of Southern California would "hop into their cars, and would go down to Watts", taking fake rifles, and yell out epithets, "point the rifles at them [black people], pull the triggers and then drive off laughing." Cragg had recorded the interview in which he claimed the anecdote was related, but it is absent from the tape. Spokeswoman Kristian Denny Todd quoted Webb as saying: "In 1963, you couldn't go to Watts and do that kind of thing. You'd get killed. So of course I didn't do it. I would never do that. I would never want to do that." Webb also produced a friend from the time who claimed that the two had never driven to Watts as claimed. ^[61]

An October 18, 2006, article in the Washington Post quotes a recent interview with Webb concerning the portrayal of ethnic sterotypes in Hollywood. Webb said, "Towel-heads and rednecks -- of which I am one. If you write that word, please say that. I mean, I don't use that pejoratively, I use it defensively. Towel-heads and rednecks became the easy villains in so many movies out there".^[62]

[edit] Allen's undisclosed business interests

On October 8, 2006, the Associated Press, reviewing five years of Allen's financial records, reported that Allen did not properly report income and stock options from companies which have federal contracts, and contacted the Army to help a company in which he has an interest.^[63] Allen's staff said Allen believed in "good faith" that he did not need to report the stock options because their purchase price was higher than the current market value. Ethics experts contacted by the AP said Allen was obligated to disclose his stock options to Congress, so the public could watch for potential conflicts of interest. Following the AP report, Allen asked the Senate ethics committee for an opinion on whether he should have disclosed his options.

[edit] Webb's name truncated on ballots

On October 24, 2006, the Washington Post reported that Webb's last name would be truncated on electronic ballots used in Alexandria, Falls Church and Charlottesville. Webb's name should appear as James H. 'Jim' Webb but only James H. 'Jim' will show on a summary page due to the font size used on the InterCivic voting machines. Allen's name George F. Allen is not affected by this glitch. The Virginia State Board of Elections pledged to have it fixed by the 2007 statewide elections and to post signs warning voters of this error.^[64]

[edit] Explicit passages from Webb novels

On October 26, 2006, the Drudge Report posted a press release reprinting and commenting on sexually explicit passages from Webb's novels. One excerpt involved a man placing his son's penis in his mouth; others involved allegedly sexist portrayals of women. The press release, which the Drudge Report attributed to the Allen campaign, said the passages fit "a continued pattern of demeaning women" in which Webb "refuse[s] to portray women in a respectful, positive light".^[65] Allen's campaign refused to tell a local radio news station, WTOP-FM, whether it in fact had issued a news release on the matter.^[66]

In a radio interview on October 27, 2006, Webb described the Allen campaign's tactics as "smear after smear", and called the attack on his fiction baseless "character assassination". Webb defended his fiction work, saying that "the duty of a writer is to illuminate [his] surroundings". He said that the scene involving the man and his son was based upon an incident in a Bangkok slum that he witnessed as a journalist^[67] and that it was "not a sexual act".^[68]

Responding to the controversy, Allen stated: "My record as a United States senator is an open book. My opponent has a record as well. He, in his advertisements, points out that he's an author, that he's a writer of books. That's part of his record. These passages in his books are part of his open record. I'll let the people of Virginia be the judge as to whose record they are more comfortable with."^[69]

At a campaign rally in Annandale on October 28, 2006, Webb noted that his novel Fields of Fire has been on the Commandant of the Marine Corps reading list for twenty years and claimed that it is the "most-taught piece of literature regarding the Vietnam War" on college campuses.^[69] Webb further listed the various accolades his books have received.^[70]

[edit] Allen's arrest warrant records

The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee has criticized Allen for his refusal to release documents that would potentially shed light on the multiple warrants that were issued for his arrest in 1974.^[71]

[edit] Allen supporters attack blogger

On October 31, footage of multiple Allen supporters attacking a constituent, Mike Stark, during a campaign stop in Charlottesville, Virginia began to circulate among various news organizations and online sources.[1] Stark, a liberal blogger, Marine veteran and law student, attempted to ask Allen about his missing arrest records and the reasons for the sealing of his divorce papers. After yelling out a question about rumors of Allen having assaulted his first wife, Stark was "briefly placed in a headlock, restrained, slung to the ground, and forcibly escorted from the hotel by three Allen supporters".^[72] Stark was detained several days later at another rally after an Allen supporter claimed Stark pushed him to the ground.^[73]

[edit] Telephone intimidation

The FBI has launched an investigation into alleged attempts to intimidate voters in eight counties before the poll.^[74]

[edit] Virginia's changing politics

Virginia is one of the more moderate Southern states, although its congressional delegation is mostly conservative, with eight of eleven Congressmen and both Senators belonging to the Republican Party prior to the 2006 election, this made Virginia's Congressional delegation the most Republican of any Southern state. Despite this, Democrats have won the last two gubernatorial races, in 2001 and 2005. The state's political majority has been changing from conservative white to a mixture of races, especially Hispanic. The state is increasingly diverse; it has the highest percentage of Asians (4.7%, according to the 2005 American Community Survey of the U.S. Census) of any Southern state. 9.9% of Virginians are foreign-born.^[75]

[edit] Polling

Source	Date	Webb (D)	Allen (R)	Parker (IG)
SurveyUSA	November 6, 2006	52%	44%	2%
Mason-Dixon	November 4, 2006	46%	45%	2%
Reuters/Zogby	November 2, 2006	45%	44%
Rasmussen	November 2, 2006	49%	49%
CNN/Opinion Research Corp.	October 31, 2006	50%	46%
Rasmussen	October 29, 2006	51%	46%
Zogby/WSJ	October 28, 2006	51%	47%
Garin Hart Yang (D)	October 26-29, 2006	47%	43%
Rasmussen	October 27, 2006	48%	49%
SurveyUSA	October 25, 2006	46%	49%	2%
Los Angeles Times/Bloomberg	October 24, 2006	47%	44%
Mason-Dixon	October 23, 2006	43%	47%	2%
Zogby/WSJ	October 19, 2006	46.7%	49.7%
Washington Post	October 15, 2006	47%	49%	2%
Rasmussen	October 12, 2006	46%	49%
USA Today/Gallup	October 6, 2006	45%	48%
Reuters/Zogby	October 5, 2006	37%	48%
Rasmussen	October 2, 2006	43%	49%
SurveyUSA	September 29, 2006	44%	50%	2%
Zogby/WSJ	September 28, 2006	43.5%	49.1%
SurveyUSA	September 27, 2006	44%	49%	2%
Mason-Dixon/MSNBC	September 23-27, 2006	43%	43%	2%
Rasmussen	September 15, 2006	43%	50%
SurveyUSA	September 13, 2006	45%	48%	3%
Zogby/WSJ	September 10, 2006	50.4%	42.9%
Mason-Dixon	September 10, 2006	42%	46%
Zogby/WSJ	August 27, 2006	47.9%	46.6%
SurveyUSA	August 21, 2006	45%	48%	2%
Rasmussen	August 17, 2006	42%	47%
Mason-Dixon	July 30, 2006	32%	48%
Rasmussen	July 27, 2006	39%	50%
Zogby/WSJ	July 24, 2006	41.3%	51.9%
Survey USA	June 28, 2006	37%	56%	2%
Zogby/WSJ	June 21, 2006	43.5%	48.8%
Rasmussen	June 20, 2006	41%	51%
Rasmussen	April 19, 2006	30%	50%
Zogby/WSJ	March 31, 2006	41.7%	48.9%
Rasmussen	March 28, 2006	30%	54%
Rasmussen	February 14, 2006	37%	49%
Rasmussen	December 9, 2005	26%	57%

[edit] See also

• United States Senate elections, 2006
• Virginia gubernatorial election, 2005

[edit] External links

• Meet the Press with Allen and Webb: debate video excerpts , and debate transcript
• 2006 Voter’s Guide by the League of Women Voters of Virginia
• "Commonwealth of Virginia: November 7, 2006 General Election: Unofficial Results". State Board of Elections website. Virginia Interactive (Commonwealth of Virginia). Retrieved on 2006-11-08. Updated every 2 minutes.
• Maps & graphic displays of the 2006 Virginia election results @ www.VaElection.org

[edit] Campaign websites

• George Allen
• Jim Webb
• Gail Parker

[edit] References

Preceded by 2002 John Warner

Virginia U.S. Senate elections 2006

Succeeded by 2008