For those keeping count, here is the full list of Virginia print media endorsements thus far:
Bristol Herald-Courier: (n/a)
Culpeper Star-Exponent:
Danville Register & Bee:
Richmond Times-Dispatch: Gillespie
Fredericksburg Free Lance-Star:
Charlottesville Daily Progress:
Norfolk Virginian-Pilot:
Hampton Roads Daily Press:
Manassas InsideNOVA: Gillespie
Washington Post:
Bluefield Daily Telegraph: Gillespie
Roanoke Times:
Winchester Star: Gillespie
From the Winchester Star:
Of late, though, this signature policy has been overshadowed by the law-and-order component of his agenda. Mr. Gillespie has chosen, by virtue of a massive television ad buy, to focus on Mr. Northam’s vulnerability on immigration issues, particularly his critical vote against a measure that would have prevented the creation of sanctuary cities in Virginia. Front and center in the ad is the Central American gang MS-13, now a presence in Northern Virginia, where it has been connected with eight murders in the last year.
. . .
For his part, Mr. Gillespie says his political foes insult law-abiding — and legal— Latino immigrants by lumping them in with their criminal brethren.
His firmness on other issues — he is for the Mountain Valley and Atlantic Coast pipelines (on which his opponent has waffled endlessly), against the removal of Confederate statuary, and determined to overhaul the state’s mental-health services — has forged a tightening of this race. Most polls now have Mr. Gillespie moving within the margin of error; one, a Monmouth canvass, has him ahead by a point, and more recently a Hampton University survey shows him up by eight. And given that Mr. Northam has intimated that a Democratic takeover of the General Assembly could mean a repeal of the state’s right-to-work law, the contest should tighten even more. Even Terry McAuliffe never expressed a desire to tamper with right-to-work.
The Richmond Times-Dispatch:
Gillespie revives the pragmatic, open-minded Republican Party that for so long served Virginia well by emphasizing effective government that focuses on core responsibilities while limiting regulation and keeping taxes as low as possible. In an era of screamers, Gillespie speaks in calm tones about shared goals and specific policies to address both recent declines and longstanding problems. He offers multitudes of incremental progress rather than misleading promises of pure utopias. He is a realistic conservative who understands the gradual changes in Virginia — and is able to appreciate and protect the improvements while recognizing the problems, which are frequently spurred by creeping blue-state calls for bigger and more intrusive government.
One suspects the Washington Post to come down on the side of the Northam camp, where the reporters continue to editorialize with a one-hit-piece-a-day treatment of Gillespie reminiscent of the ferocity of the George Allen 2006 takedown.
The truly interesting endorsement to watch? The Roanoke Times.
True, the Roanoke flagship is left-of-center… but they are pragmatic when they choose to be and have the values of Southwest Virginia at heart. Given Northam’s (calculated) abandonment of rural Virginia vs. the open armed welcome that his Democratic rival Tom Perriello gave to the economically shifting economies of “real Virginia” — Gillespie’s something has to beat Northam’s nothing.
