GOP struggles to win over Charlottesville

The next two years would be the time to rebuild.

That was the message conveyed in 2007 by Charlottesville’s Republicans, after the party did not field a candidate for the City Council. But two years later, it has yet to be determined whether this year’s elections will be different, even though the nation’s economic situation is entirely different.

“It’s kind of bad ‘juju’ around here in Charlottesville,” said Charles Weber, head of the Charlottesville Republican Committee, of being a Republican. “I’m not sure if we’re going to have a candidate or not.”

Prior to 2007, the last time Republicans failed to produce a City Council candidate was in 1972.

The running for November’s local elections has already begun, with two Democrats, incumbent Mayor Dave Norris and challenger Kristin Szakos, having formally announced that they would seek their party’s nomination and try to fill the council’s two open seats. Incumbent Julian Taliaferro, who, like Norris, was elected in 2006, has also told The Daily Progress that he will run for re-election. Taliaferro, another Democrat, will officially declare his candidacy at 12:15 p.m. Monday in front of City Hall.

“I hope they do, because I think multiparty competition is good for democracy,” Norris said, referring to the Republicans putting up a candidate. While independents and Republicans have not fared well recently, Norris said, “I don’t think they should stop trying.”

Several constitutional offices — commonwealth’s attorney, sheriff, treasurer and commissioner of revenue — also will be listed on the Nov. 3 ballot, along with three seats on the Charlottesville School Board.

Bob Hodous, a former GOP committee chairman, said even though the country has been grappling with a deficit and battered housing and credit markets, he doubts a gloomy fiscal climate will make a difference for local Republicans in this year’s elections. He said that there have been residents who have been upset about Charlottesville’s spending and taxation habits for years, but even independent candidates who preach more fiscal discipline, such as Barbara Haskins in the 2007 election, get voted down.

“It’s a one-party town,” Hodous said.

Haskins received 2,111 votes in her run for the City Council, and that year’s three Democratic candidates — current councilors David Brown, Holly Edwards and Satyendra Huja — each received more than 3,700.

“There’s such a strong liberal ethos in the city voters,” said Haskins, adding that what the city calls surplus revenue is what she sees as excessive taxation. But Norris said he thinks the city has been managed conservatively, which is why it has been able to escape the crises other localities are facing.

“Generally speaking, I think we’ve been good stewards of the taxpayers’ money,” he said.

Weber still thinks the tax issue is a big one, suggesting that the city government has been disingenuous in recent years by taking advantage of rising real-estate assessments. Given that City Manager Gary O’Connell is proposing no tax rate or fee increases in the fiscal 2010 budget and at the same time is not cutting services, Weber said, “it sort of exposes the lie of the past few years.”

“How are they doing it?” he said.

Haskins said that there is more talk about fiscal responsibility now than when she ran for office, but she still thinks elected officials are just paying lip service to financial prudence.

And the council’s makeup will stay as it is now if the Democrats have anything to say about it, Hodous said.

“If you look at the voting patterns, that’s essentially what happens,” Hodous said. “In this city, if the person doesn’t run as a Democrat, it won’t make any difference.”

The iron grip that Democrats have in Charlottesville is difficult to dispute, with Rob Schilling being the Republicans’ only candidate elected to the City Council in 16 years. Norris said that while he does not think partisan affiliation should make a huge difference in terms of local issues, it absolutely matters in the viability of a person’s candidacy.

“And that’s a reflection of the fact that it’s an overwhelmingly Democratic city,” Norris said.

Schilling said it was the perfect storm of circumstances that allowed him to get elected in 2002 — the city’s demographics were different, then-President George Bush’s approval ratings were high and there were more bipartisan feelings in the months after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

“It’s not the perfect storm now,” Schilling said.

Schilling, who lost his bid for re-election in 2006, said it is possible that the public could be more receptive to a more conservative candidate in light of what is happening economically. Schilling won with 2,169 votes in 2002 but lost with 2,460 votes to Norris and Taliaferro nearly three years ago.

“I know there’s many people who would like to, but they’re scared to buck the establishment,” he said.

Weber said the party is still regrouping, and would hope to front a candidate this year because the differences between the two factions are especially apparent. And even if the person who runs ends up losing, Weber said, at least different policy ideas will have been brought forward.

“If we get a candidate, we will certainly put one up,” he said. “I’m hopeful, but I’m not going to commit to anything.”