Jody Wagner's victory speech - strong and classy, just like Creigh Deeds' and Terry McAuliffe's (I haven't seen Mike Signer's yet or Brian Moran's) from last night. Congratulations to Jody, and watch out Bill Bolling!
Thank you, Virginia Democrats!
Tonight, after ten months of traveling across our beautiful Commonwealth, talking with voters about the challenges facing Virginia, listening to their concerns and hopes for the future… after countless JJ dinners, four debates, and more hours in a car than I could count, I am so proud and humbled to stand here before you tonight as your candidate for Lt. Governor of Virginia.
A short while ago I received a call from Mike Signer, who congratulated me on our victory. Mike ran a spirited campaign, and he excited so many young voters who will now take part in this process through November. I also want to thank Jon Bowerbank, who graciously left the race three weeks ago, and has supported me since. I appreciate both Jon and Mike's commitment to public service. I'm sure we'll see great things from both of them in the future, and I know we'll all be out there fighting for our party for a long time to come.
But now, we need to look forward. And I am excited and honored to be part of the same ticket as our next Governor, Creigh Deeds, and our next Attorney General, Steve Shannon. Because THIS is the ticket that will keep Virginia moving forward, and create the economic opportunity that so many Virginians need.
As a partner of Mark Warner and Tim Kaine's over the past seven years, I know a thing or two about how to keep Virginia the best managed state in the nation, about creating economic opportunity, and about the challenges Virginia's small businesses and families face.
As state treasurer under Governor Warner and Secretary of Finance under Governor Kaine, I was part of the team that helped get Virginia regain its financial footing after the disaster of the Gilmore Administration. I'm proud to have been part of the team over the past seven years that helped make Virginia the Best Managed State in the Nation.
As the owner of a small popcorn store in Virginia Beach, I know how hard it is for small businesses. My husband and I have worked hard to make our business successful, while taking care of our workers. That's why I'm proud to have been part of the team over the past seven years that helped make Virginia the best state in which to do business.
But my biggest accomplishment, the one I'm most proud of, is being the mother of four wonderful children. As every parent in Virginia knows, every day is full of both challenges and opportunities. But everything we do is geared towards one simple goal - to make sure that every possible opportunity is available to our children, so that they might have brighter futures than ours. That's why I'm so proud to have been part of the team over the past seven years that helped make Virginia the best state in which to raise a child.
For the better part of a decade, Mark Warner, Tim Kaine, and I worked to find bipartisan, common sense solutions to the problems the Commonwealth faced-from solving the budget deficit left by Jim Gilmore, to investing in education, and trying to fix our broken transportation system once and for all.
But there was one person in Richmond who wasn't interested in cooperation; who cared more about partisan ideology and scoring political points than about working towards consensus solutions that would improve the lives of Virginians. That person was Bill Bolling.
I've watched Bill Bolling closely over the past seven years. As I worked with Mark Warner and Tim Kaine to move Virginia forward, Bill did everything he could to keep progress at bay.
The choice between us couldn't be any more clear. On the one hand, you'll have Creigh Deeds and me, who proudly carry the torch of the Warner-Kaine legacy, representing nearly a decade of success and progress in the Commonwealth. On the other, you'll have Bill Bolling and Bob McDonnell, running from their own records of partisan division as they embrace many of the policies they've fought so hard to kill.
We'll show a seven-year record of bringing Virginians together, measured against two decades of trying to pull Richmond apart at every opportunity.
Now, Bill Bolling's going to make every attempt to distort the accomplishments of the last two administrations. In a way, I feel a little bad for him-his next five months will be spent trying to attack and degrade seven years of success. It's not an enviable task, but I can guarantee that he won't hold any punches. Our undertaking is different-to engage Virginians in a dialogue about the progress made on so many fronts since 2002.
Of course, that started in 2002, by cleaning up the mess left by Jim Gilmore and Bill Bolling, who was with him every step of the way. We faced a record budget deficit, and the state was on financial life support. But not only did we fix the budget and maintain our AAA credit rating-we did so without sacrificing our future priorities.
We jumpstarted a new era of job creation and economic development in Virginia, creating more than 195,000 new jobs.
We invested billions in education, helping to spread the promise of opportunity to every student in Virginia by lowering class sizes, implementing new technology, providing better support to our teachers, and enrolling more at-risk youth in pre-K programs. And just as important, we've expanded funding for community colleges, so Virginia has the capacity to provide the career-track education that will produce skilled workers for decades to come.
Looking back, the two legacies couldn't be more different. The Gilmore/Bolling record was one of financial disaster. The Warner-Kaine legacy is the 'best managed state,' the 'best state for business,' and most important of all, the 'best state to raise a child for a lifetime of success.'
But it's not just our records where we're different. Bill Bolling and I have very different visions for the future.
I believe we need to get our economy back on track to create jobs. The best way to do that is focus on emerging industries like renewable energy production, where Virginia becomes a global leader in solar, wind and biomass energy while creating in thousands of new jobs.
Bill Bolling's entire energy plan can be best summed up in three words - "drill baby drill"
I see a Commonwealth no longer burdened by a 20% drop-out rate in high school, which robs students of opportunity far too early in their lives. A place where we realize Governor Kaine's vision for pre-K schooling for all of our most vulnerable children, and career-track education and community college is available to all students, so that no one in Virginia starts their schooling behind, or finishes it unprepared.
Bill Bolling fought us on Governor Kaine's pre-k program, and just last week attacked me for supporting Mark Warner's budget reform that resulted in the single largest investment in education in Virginia history.
Finally, I see a Commonwealth where we begin to solve our transportation problem once and for all, so that we enter the coming decade with a network that connects our many regions, fosters further economic growth, and improves our quality of life.
Bill Bolling? He fought Governor Kaine's transportation reform. Now he wants Virginians to believe that he'll be a leader on these issues. Well, I have some advice for Bill Bolling - you've had four years to be a leader, it's too late now.
So there's the choice. And along with my ticket mates Creigh Deeds and Steve Shannon, I'm looking forward to making our case over the next five months, and winning this election in November so we can keep Virginia headed in the right direction.
Finally, let me say a few words of thanks to the people that helped me get here tonight.
To my family-my husband Alan, who's been there every step of the way. My four children: Max, Lilly, Rachel and Jason.
To my wonderful staff and volunteers
And finally, to the elected officials who believe in my candidacy, and especially Congressmen Scott, Nye, and Boucher
