Races of the week: Forbes vs. Lucas

Virginia's 4th District

When he won a special election for the U.S. House of Representatives on June 19 last year, Randy Forbes also won a distinction among Republican members of Congress. In representing the Chesapeake-area 4th District of Virginia, which is 40% black, Forbes became the GOP congressman with the largest black constituency in the nation. Even after reapportionment earlier this year reduced the 4th's black population to about 34%, Forbes still held the same unique position among House Republicans.

"And I do so by being myself, without trimming my sails to accommodate or patronize any group," says the 50-year-old Forbes (lifetime American Conservative Union rating: 100%). "People respect you more when you don't try to be something you're not."

No one has ever accused Forbes, who also compiled a conservative record while state senator and state Republican chairman, of trimming his ideological sails. He votes and acts in Washington as he did in Richmond: pro-life ("very much so"), a self-styled "2nd Amendment man," for tax cuts and making the President's across-the-board tax cut permanent, and for immediate abolition of the estate tax.

In his bid for a full term, Forbes faces the same Democratic foe he overcame in the '01 by-- election: State Sen. Louise Lucas of Portsmouth. Forbes became the 4th District's first Republican House member in 19 years not only by overcoming Lucas, but by beating her phalanx of mean-spirited, left-of-center supporters-the Congressional Black Caucus, the National Abortion and Reproductive Rights Action League, the National Education Association, the Service Employees International Union.

Their message, along with those of other Lucas backers from outside the district, was simple. As a mail piece paid for by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee put it: "Six million minority families [will be] left behind by the Bush/Republican budget"-a not-so-subtle suggestion that the tax cuts in the budget are somehow anti-minority.

"This mailing was designed to boost minority turnout through fear and lies," fumed "60 Plus" seniors association head James L. Martin, who spent several days in the 4th campaigning for Forbes. "In this race," Martin said, "Democrats not only played the race card-they played the race deck!"

For Forbes-who was proud of his relationship with black constituents-the vicious liberal attacks hurt. "It wasn't easy for friends of mine in the African-American community," he said. "Some of our volunteers were physically assaulted. My friend Ed Brown, for example, had a 4x8 sign for me in his yard in Portsmouth that was burned. Carmen Threet, at whose wedding my daughter was a flower girl, took some hard verbal abuse from Democratic campaign workers. Now let me emphasize: This was not from Louise's local campaign but from people the national Democrats bused in."

But it was not enough to stop Forbes. He won with 53% of the vote.

In his rematch with Lucas, Forbes is likely again to grapple with national forces that will make another mean-spirited contest out of the House race. Lucas is his polar opposite on virtually every issue. For example, on abortion she opposed informed consent and parental notification in the state senate and once voted against a ban on state finding for partial-birth abortion, although she has since changed her mind. She criticizes the Bush tax cuts and, while a member of the Portsmouth City Council and state senator, voted to raise taxes on cigarettes. (Lifelong non-smoker, teetotaler Forbes is opposed to any taxes on cigarettes and believes that the socalled "tobacco wars," like any government onslaught against a demonized industry, are less motivated by health concerns than a backhanded means of raising revenue.)

Besides redistricting and Forbes' incumbency, are there any differences between the Old Dominion's 4th District race last year and this? "Well, I received a plaque from Suffolk, a town in my district with a heavily Democratic registration edge and nearly every local official a Democrat," observed the Republican congressman, "And the city leaders voted it for me as a tribute and thanks for my service in Congress so far."

(Forbes for Congress, P.O. Box 15100, Chesapeake, Va. 23328; 757-547-1000)

This is the third in our annual election year series-written by HUMAN EVENTS Political Editor John Gizzi-on House and Senate races of particular interest to conservatives.

Copyright Human Events Publishing, Inc. Jul 15, 2002
Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights Reserved