“An Uncomfortable Situation” – Contentious #VAGOV Primary Fight Puts Virginia Dems at a Disadvantage

The Democratic primary in the Virginia governor’s race continues to grow more contentious by the day. Ralph Northam, expecting a coronation as the Democratic nominee, is now being forced to actually campaign for the nomination, and he’s clearly not happy about it. Northam is facing a bruising primary fight against Tom Perriello’s insurgent campaign, which is creating rifts within the party and will likely force Northam and Perriello to drain their campaign accounts for negative attacks on each other – while also pushing their campaigns further to the Left.

Virginia Democrats are now admitting publicly that the Northam vs. Perriello fight puts them at a disadvantage, “to the detriment of every other Democrat who is on the ballot this year,” and as former Democratic gubernatorial nominee Creigh Deeds noted, the primary fight is increasingly a “uncomfortable situation.”

The Washington Post reports:

“In the original vision, Northam’s big war chest — about $2.5 million on hand, the most of any candidate — would have provided a huge head start…Instead, Northam’s funds will have to pay for the fight against Perriello — a promising, attractive politician who many in the party like. National donors will probably stay on the sidelines until a single candidate emerges in the June primary..”

“For a whole lot of people I know, it’s kind of an uncomfortable situation,’ said state Sen. R. Creigh Deeds (D-Bath), who was the party’s nominee for governor in 2009…”

“The party had hoped to present a united front — no Democrat has won the governor’s seat in recent years after going through a primary battle, as opposed to being nominated in a convention and saving resources for the general election.”

“Other Democrats expressed anger at Perriello. A former one-term congressman from Charlottesville, Perriello, 42, became close with former president Barack Obama and served several diplomatic roles for that administration. He is a formidable opponent for Northam, energetic and capable of tapping populist zeal — but his timing stung.”

“We could be in a different situation if we had just had some advance notice that we were going to be in the middle of a primary,’ said one Democratic official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal party affairs.”

“That hitch is ‘to the detriment of every other Democrat who is on the ballot this year’ because it delays the broader coordinated campaign, the official said.”

“We’ve had to make a couple modifications’ to the campaign, Northam acknowledged in an interview.”