While the choice ought to be obvious to anyone who has followed their respective political careers, it is none the less a surprise that the Daily Press - which serves the Hampton, Newport News, Williamsburg and York County area of Virginia - has endorsed Democrat Mark Herring for Virginia Attorney General. Apparently Mark Obenshain is too extreme even for the Daily Press' editorial board which tends to be far right in its political views (although not as bad as the Richmond Times Dispatch). Here are highlights from the endorsement:
The choice for attorney general caused more debate for the Daily Press Editorial Board than any other statewide endorsement this year.
In the end, we are endorsing Democrat Mark Herring, in large part because we believe in his commitment to transparency and open access. This is a critical weakness in Virginia, given the state's tepid open government laws and inadequate ethics rules, which fed the flames of the Star Scientific scandal that impacted both the governor and the attorney general's office.
Mr. Herring and Republican nominee Mark Obenshain, both state senators, made it a point to distance themselves from many of the decisions Ken Cuccinelli has made in his four years as attorney general. Mr. Herring, for example, said the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) should be applied to both the attorney general's office and the State Corporation Commission. Mr. Obenshain said he would not have instructed colleges and universities to remove homosexuals from the list of groups protected against discrimination. Both disagreed with Mr. Cuccinelli's decision to sue the University of Virginia to gain access to a former U.Va. professor's research on climate change.
[T]he winner of this election will play a predominant role in interpreting and enforcing the laws of the state, and for that reason it is worth examining those voting records to see what they tell us about the differing philosophies of the two men.
Mr. Obenshain, generally sticking to the GOP party line, has too often voted against individual freedom and in favor of intrusion in the lives of citizens – such as his votes in favor of a law mandating unnecessary ultrasound procedures for women seeking abortions, and in favor of voter ID laws that seem to be aimed less at detecting fraud than at discouraging voting among demographic groups that tend to lean Democratic.
Both candidates said they would provide transparency and open access to public records, but we are at least a little bit leery of Mr. Obenshain's commitment to that principle in light of his vote earlier this year in favor of sealing the previously public records on concealed carry licenses. Mr. Herring voted to keep those records open.
The candidates both favor tighter ethics policies for state officials, but Mr. Herring went further in that regard – vowing that he would urge the new governor to establish an independent agency to advise officials, investigate allegations of impropriety and enforce state policies on gifts, conflicts of interest and other matters of ethics.
Mr. Obenshain refused to sign on for Gov. McDonnell's transportation bill, a landmark piece of bipartisan legislation that provides critical funding for our highways and crossings. Mr. Herring's votes on gun legislation have consistently been more sensible than Mr. Obenshain's.
This race provides us with two strong candidates for attorney general. It is not an easy choice. But our commonwealth is in need of transparency and public access to information. Because Mark Herring is more prepared to offer those things, we endorse him for attorney general.
Congratulations to Mark Herring. Virginians need to get out and vote for him on November 5, 2013.
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