For all you young ‘uns out there, be prepared for a surprise, or maybe even two, when the votes are counted tonight. While I hate to admit it, I’m old enough to remember both the last contested Democratic gubernatorial primary (1977) and the last Republican one (1989).
In 1977, the frontrunner for the Democratic nomination was former Attorney General, Andrew P. Miller. As is the tradition, Miller had resigned his office to seek the governorship. He was well-funded, viewed as the more moderate or conservative candidate and was seen by most during the entirety of the campaign as the prohibitive favorite to win the primary.
Then the votes were counted, and the winner was former Lt. Governor Henry E. Howell. Known, by some derisively and by some affectionately, as Howlin’ Henry, Howell had once unsuccessfully sought the nomination, run once as an Independent (losing a 1973 nail-biter to former Democratic Governor Mills Godwin who was running as a Republican) and was well known for his indefatigable spirit as well and his ability to infuriate Richmond’s conservative Main Street establishment. In the ‘77 general election, however, Howell did not fare as well as he had four years earlier. Moderate Republican Lt. Governor John Dalton defeated him in November, 57% to 43%.
In 1989, the contest was on the Republican side; and the favorite was former U.S. Senator, Paul S. Trible, who had retired from the Senate a year earlier (some said to avoid facing a race against the then very popular Chuck Robb). The well-funded and genial Trible led his opponents, former Attorney General J. Marshall Coleman and Congressman Stan Parris, in the polls, as I recall, for the entire campaign. Coleman, however, who had been elected Attorney General as a somewhat moderate, ‘Mountain and Valley’ Republican morphed into a serious anti-abortion advocate and consistently attacked Trible’s pro-life bona fides.
Once again when the votes were in, the favorite had fallen. Coleman bested Trible and Parris in yet another primary shocker. In a cautionary note for upset primary winners, however, Coleman went on to lose in November as well - by about one-half of one percent to the amiable and beloved, L. Douglas Wilder.
Jim Severt is a lawyer who lives in Washington, DC.
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