The NEWS
October 29, 2009
Editorial: Wagner for lt. governor (Roanoke Times)
We can understand why Bolling, who declined to meet with our editorial board, went on the attack. We can think of nothing he has done since trading in his state Senate seat to suggest he should keep his current job.
Wagner, though, has positives to talk about.
Her role, for instance, in working with House and Senate conferees this year to get a deal on Kaine’s higher education bond package, which included money to build the Virginia Tech Carilion Medical School in Roanoke.
Wagner has a detailed knowledge of the state budget and a realistic grasp of Virginia’s needs for economic development, education and transportation. As lieutenant governor, she says, she’d put her energy into working with lawmakers to push forward on these fronts.
October 19, 2009
Jody Wagner for lieutenant governor (Washington Post Endorsement)
Smart, tough-minded and capable, Ms. Wagner would be among the best-prepared public officials to assume the job. A former corporate lawyer, she started a successful family business (making kettle corn) before going to work for then-Gov. Mark R. Warner (D). Then, as Mr. Kaine’s finance secretary – she resigned this year to launch her campaign – she developed an authoritative command of state government, spending and income, critical knowledge for the challenges posed by the recession.
Unlike the usual run of officeholders in Richmond, she is more pragmatist and problem-solver than partisan political warrior. As the only one of the six statewide candidates to have had hands-on experience with the state’s budget, she would be uniquely well placed to serve as a resource for whichever candidate is elected governor.
September 22, 2009
Beach's Sessoms jumps party lines for Wagner (Virginian-Pilot)
He always votes Republican, Virginia Beach Mayor Will Sessoms said this morning, and he’ll do so again this November.
With one exception.
When it comes to the lieutenant governor’s race, Sessoms said, he’ll pull the lever for his friend and associate of 25 years, local attorney and businesswoman Jody Wagner, a Democrat.
September 16, 2009
Wagner on Bolling: he's a "no show" LG (HamptonRoads.com)
See Jody’s veterans plan here.
Jody Wagner billed her Wednesday afternoon campaign event in Richmond as an opportunity to spell out her plans to aid military veterans if elected lieutenant governor.
And while she spoke about those objectives, Wagner also took time to blast Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling for what she called his failure to attend meetings of state commissions and foundations he is a member of.
“I would call him a no show lieutenant governor,” Wagner, a Democrat from Virginia Beach who previously served as state finance secretary, said about her Republican rival.
September 14, 2009
Baloney (Washington Post Editorial)
In Virginia, Republicans have criticized Gov. Timothy M. Kaine (D) for overly optimistic revenue forecasts. This is baloney: Virginia has been no worse than other states at anticipating the recession’s devastating budgetary toll. In fact, while Virginia faces steep funding shortfalls in the coming years, Mr. Kaine has made more extensive and lasting cuts than many other states.
August 23, 2009
Roanoke Times: Bolling's Attacks "Utterly ridiculous"
Still, GOP Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling, who is running for re-election in November, insisted last week that Kaine’s earlier reliance on what proved to be overly optimistic budget projections has left the state in this fine fix.
Utterly ridiculous.
The blame lies with a historic recession. It has led to declining revenue projections for two years in a row, something unprecedented in Virginia, Kaine said. State revenues fell by 9.2 percent last year, the steepest dive in modern history. Despite signs the economy might be turning around, tax collections are expected to be down another 1.6 percent this year.
August 17, 2009
VEA Fund Recommends Jody Wagner for Lieutenant Governor
On Monday, August 17, 2009, the VEA Fund for Children and Public Education formally recommended Jody Wagner for the position of Virginia Lieutenant Governor. Remarks from VEA President Kitty Boitnott, who chairs the fund, follow:
“It is my honor and pleasure to formally announce the VEA Fund recommendation of the candidacy of Jody Wagner for Lieutenant Governor.
July 29, 2009
A chat with lieutenant governor candidate Jody Wagner (Midlothian Exchange)
“Virginia’s not in a situation like California where we’re issuing IOUs. We’re running government the way it should be run-in a quality way.” She said her opponent has criticized revenue forecasts for the past few years. She also said Virginia has a bipartisan process and Bolling had been “invited every time we had a meeting with business executives. To my recollection, he never came.”
According to Wagner, “Virginia’s forecasting process is the envy of many states.” The National Association of Budget Officers pointed to Virginia “as being the right way to do things.”
“The reality is this economic downturn has had an affect on Virginia and everyone all over the world has been taken by surprise at the severity of it. But we’ve got to be grateful for where we are and work to recover.”
July 22, 2009
Lt. gov. candidate makes campaign stop here (Franklin News-Post)
Jody Wagner, the Democratic candidate for lieutenant governor in the November election, said the top priority for state government during the next four years is getting people back to work.
With the state’s unemployment rate above 7 percent, Wagner said “people all over the state are hurting.”
At a campaign appearance in Franklin County during the weekend, she said, “We’ve got to work to reduce unemployment and get people back to work.”
July 19, 2009
Candidate: Jobs are key issue throughout state
Jody Wagner running for lieutenant governor Martinsville Bulletin
By GINNY WRAY
Democratic candidate for lieutenant governor Jody Wagner heard the same plea during a campaign stop in Martinsville on Saturday that she has heard around the state: The area needs high-paying, quality jobs.
Wagner said as a former state treasurer and secretary of finance, she worked with the administrations of Govs. Mark Warner and Tim Kaine on job creation.
“Obviously I will continue to work hard” on that, she said Saturday. “We made some progress but there’s a long way to go.”
July 17, 2009
Lt. Gov. Candidate Wagner Tours C'ville Alternative Energy Business
“I think it’s going to be huge,” Wagner said. “Not just the next four years, I think the next ten years because the future of the nation is really [resting] on making sure that we get off of foreign oil and we get onto renewable energy. It’s going to be groups like [Altenergy] that are really going to be making the difference in moving us forward.”
July 17, 2009
On the Rebound (News Virginian)
Democratic Lt. Gov. candidate Jody Wagner remembers challenges when she became Virginia’s state treasurer in 2002.
There was maintaining Virginia’s Triple AAA bond rating and balancing the state budget. The painful cuts included 23 percent to Wagner’s own budget.
Now, Wagner wants to bring her financial expertise to the task of helping Virginia’s economy rebound, and attack other challenges such as transportation and education.
Her resume also includes tenure as Virginia secretary of finance in the Gov. Timothy Kaine administration.
July 14, 2009
Wagner Outlines Platform During Loudoun Stop (Leesburg Today)
Her plans for economic development extend into the realm of education, where she advocated the creation of new programs to train students and young adults for high tech careers in the science and engineering fields, and stressed the importance of early childhood education in these areas.
“If you’re excited about science when you’re in fifth grade, then there is a much better chance you will be excited about science in the 12th grade when you’re deciding what you’re going to do,” Wagner said.
July 11, 2009
Democratic Hopeful for Lieutenant Governor Visits Bristol (Bristol Herald Courier)
Democratic candidate Jody Wagner told a gathering at Java J’s coffeehouse Friday that if she is elected as Virginia’s lieutenant governor in November, she will push for progress on numerous state issues, including education, transportation and jobs.
During her appearance on State Street, Wagner took questions on health care and the state’s ability to attract more business. She also accused state Republicans of blocking efforts to draw industry to Virginia and help unemployed residents. And she criticized incumbent Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling, her Republican opponent, as being “the voice of no.”
July 10, 2009
Democratic Lt. Governor nominee visits Southwest Virginia (WDBJ Channel 7)
News 7 caught up with Wagner in Blacksburg during a tour of the Lakeview Blue Ridge neuro-behavioral facility.
She emphasized her financial understanding of Virginia over the past 7 years while working in the Warner and Kaine administrations.
“I was the treasurer in Warner’s administration and the secretary of finance in Tim Kanie’s, and during that time we got a lot accomplished. Best managed state twice. Best state for business six times and the best state to raise a child,” said Jody Wagner, Democratic candidate for Lt. Governor.
July 10, 2009
Democratic candidate for Lieutenant Governor stops in Roanoke (WSLS TV)
The Democrat’s candidate for Lieutenant Governor, Jody Wagner, made her first visit through Southwest Virginia since securing the nomination.
Before meeting people in downtown Roanoke this afternoon, Wagner stopped in Bristol, Wytheville, and Blacksburg.
June 24, 2009
VA Gets Top Rating for Pro-Business Environment (WHSV TV)
During Kaine’s administration, Virginia has been recognized as the most business-friendly state in America (Forbes.com 2006-2008), one of the best states for business (CNBC 2007 and 2008), the top-performing state government in America (Governing Magazine 2008) and the state where “a child is most likely to have a successful life (Education Week 2007).”
June 12, 2009
Wagner challenges Bolling to debates
Richmond Times-Dispatch
Democratic lieutenant governor nominee Jody M. Wagner yesterday challenged Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling, the Republican incumbent, to five debates to be held in different regions of the state.
June 10, 2009
Beach's Wagner wins Democratic nod for lieutenant governor
By Bill Sizemore, The Virginian-PilotFor voters this fall, she said, “the choice is clear: Pick somebody who’s going to work to fix our problems or somebody who’s going to be ideological and stand in the way. I look forward to that comparison.”
Wagner linked Bolling to Warner’s Republican predecessor, Jim Gilmore, whom Democrats blame for driving the state budget into a ditch. She referred to Gilmore’s legacy as “the Gilmore-Bolling financial disaster.”
She said she will work to bring “21st-century businesses” such as renewable-energy enterprises to Virginia, expand pre-kindergarten education and seek a bipartisan solution to the state’s transportation problems.
June 02, 2009
The Dartboard: Wagner’s Checkbook
Sitting down with someone so informed regarding the economics of Commonwealth can be a little daunting, but there is also the troubling possibility that their understanding stops with the facts and figures—without an understanding of the reality that exists out in the real world. This is not a problem with Jody Wagner.
With many candidates or public officials, there is a “on the record” transformation that occurs when they start talking to reporters and potential voters. From all appearances, this is not the case with Wagner. From my own conversation with her—and from her cameo appearance at the Meet-n-Greet hosted by the Loudoun Young Democrats, Wagner was as interested in listening to concerns from the people of Loudoun as she was in getting her own message across.
May 31, 2009
Jody Wagner on June 9 (Washington Post Endorsement)
Gov. Kaine’s former finance secretary is the better choice in the Democratic primary for lieutenant governor.
But Ms. Wagner is impressive in her own right and, more to the point, better suited for the job. A Virginia Beach resident, she has an unmatched grasp of the state’s finances and would be a major asset to whoever becomes governor. As state treasurer under Mr. Warner, Ms. Wagner helped extricate Virginia from the risky fiscal policies of former governor Jim Gilmore ®; as finance secretary under Gov. Timothy M. Kaine (D), Ms. Wagner preserved the state’s triple-A bond rating and shaped a budget that has weathered the recession better than most. Ms. Wagner could help the next governor navigate the financial nitty-gritty to piece together a transportation plan or expand Mr. Kaine’s initiative for preschool. She would also keep in mind the challenges facing owners of small businesses, having started with her husband a gourmet popcorn company called Jody’s.
GRASSROOTS ENDORSEMENTS
- Susan Seidler
- Fred Jones
- Delsa Hildebrandt, Falls Church
- Joseph W. Carney III
- Ashleigh Rainero, Fairfax
- Kelly Icke, Fairfax
- Charlie Waring, Vienna/li>
- John Tick, Abingdon
- Brian Bills
- Kevin Reustle
- Gail Nardi
- Faiza Arif, Herndon
- James Reeder
- Diane Carrone
- Conaway Haskins
- Sean Coffron