Governor’s race: Holton backs Deeds; Republicans talk mental health

With another poll showing the race for governor tightening, Democrat R. Creigh Deeds and Republican Bob McDonnell are dueling over endorsements and high-dollar plans to fix roads and the mental-health system.

Public Policy Polling of Raleigh, N.C., puts Deeds within 5 percentage points of McDonnell, 43 percent to 48 percent. Deeds trailed by 7 percentage points in September and 14 two months ago.

Public Policy Polling’s findings track those of other recent polls, including one published Sunday by The Washington Post. However, a poll last night by SurveyUSA put McDonnell in front by 14 percentage points.

Yesterday’s polls were released after Deeds picked up the backing of former Gov. Linwood Holton, a centrist Republican in office from 1971 to 1974 who has frequently broken with his party, branding it too conservative.

McDonnell, in a conference call with reporters to announce his mental-health proposals, said the Holton endorsement is not unexpected because Holton is the father in-law of departing Democratic Gov. Timothy M. Kaine, who is also head of the Democratic National Committee.

“I think the bigger question is why Governor Wilder is not endorsing Senator Deeds,“ said McDonnell.

L. Douglas Wilder, governor from 1990-94 and most recently mayor of Richmond, is refusing to support either candidate. In doing so, Wilder criticized Deeds for, among other things, opposing Wilder’s one-handgun-a-month law, which McDonnell backed as a legislator in 1993 but now wants to scrap.

In supporting Deeds, Holton said the Democrat would push for a bipartisan solution to the state’s transportation woes. Appearing with Deeds at the Clarendon Metro station in Arlington, Holton said McDonnell’s highway-financing proposal relies on “several false promises.“

Deeds is not ruling out higher taxes for roads and rails—he’s backed them in the Virginia Senate—while McDonnell would rely, in part, on selling state-owned liquor stores as well as royalties on proposed offshore drilling for oil and gas.

McDonnell vows to improve transportation without raising taxes. He cites Deeds’ willingness to boost taxes as evidence the Democrat is insensitive to the economic anxiety of Virginians.

And in the latest wave of commercials, Deeds is attacking McDonnell anew over his controversial 1989 thesis, focusing this time on the Republican’s criticism of working women, unmarried couples and contraception.

McDonnell, meantime, rolled out a video on his Web site that is an inventory of the numerous endorsements he’s collected—from the Fraternal Order of Police to the Fairfax Chamber of Commerce, National Rifle Association and Virginia Association of Realtors.

McDonnell joined his running mate for attorney general, Ken Cuccinelli, to outline a proposal for strengthening mental-health services. They want to expand community-based care, improve services for children and teens and find more effective treatment for inmates.

McDonnell, a former attorney general, said savings from shrinking mental hospitals in favor of a community-based system could be reinvested in programs that could keep patients closer to their families.

Cuccinelli, who has served as a court-appointed attorney for the mentally ill, talked about improved care for prisoners with mental disabilities.

Cuccinelli, a state senator from Fairfax, said: “We need to acknowledge our jails have become, in some instances, the mental-health institution of last resort.“

Jared Leopold, a Deeds spokesman, questioned funding for the McDonnell proposal. Leopold said the Republicans could not underwrite the plan while steering to roads dollars that now go to human services.

“His proposal fails a basic math test: You can’t provide needed mental-health services if you’re taking that money to pay for roads,“ Leopold said.

Public Policy Polling said it surveyed 576 likely voters Friday through Monday. It’s margin of error was plus or minus 4 percentage points.

SurveyUSA said it polled 631 likely voters Saturday through yesterday. That poll’s margin of error was plus or minus 4 percentage points.  Contact Olympia Meola at (804) 649-6812 or

. Contact Jeff E. Schapiro at (804) 649-6814 or

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