Some Va. Republican Officials Say Abortion Not Top Issue For Virginia Voters In U.S. Senate Primary

Main Category: Abortion
Also Included In: Public Health
Article Date: 02 Apr 2008 - 7:00 PDT

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Some Republican officials in Virginia recently have said abortion rights is not a top issue for Virginia voters in the state's Republican U.S. Senate primary despite state Del. Robert Marshall's (R) attempts to make the issue the "centerpiece" of his campaign, the Washington Times reports.

Tom Kopko, chair of the Prince William County Republican Committee, said, "I don't think [abortion] is going to be the defining issue in Virginia." He added, "Abortion is an important issue to many people, particularly the Republican base, but I think in Virginia it has not been the deciding factor in people's votes. I think people decide to vote more on transportation and education with abortion being an important factor."

An unnamed party official said that Marshall and his campaign are telling people that they are "not conservative enough" if they support abortion in cases of rape and incest. "If [Republicans] focus solely on that social issue, we are going to get our clocks cleaned," the official said, referring to the state's U.S. Senate race. Trixie Averill -- chair of the Republican Party of Virginia's State Central Committee and supporter of former Gov. James Gilmore (R) -- said, "We made a lot of strides on the pro-life issues and a lot of them were done during the Gilmore administration." He added, "As far as I am concerned, there are many other issues out there right now" (McLaughlin, Washington Times, 3/30).

Marshall has called himself the "authentic pro-life" candidate and has said that people opposed to abortion rights "will sit on their hands" if Gilmore is the Republican nominee because of Gilmore's view that abortion should be permitted in the first eight weeks of pregnancy. Gilmore has said that as governor he helped pass a 24-hour waiting period for women seeking abortions, enacted a statewide ban on so-called "partial-birth" abortion and pushed legislation requiring minors seeking abortions to notify their parents. Gilmore, Marshall and Robert Berry are running for the Republican nomination for the seat of retiring Sen. John Warner (R). Former Gov. Mark Warner is the likely Democratic nominee for the seat (Daily Women's Health Policy Report, 3/25).

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