A tale of two hopefuls

The starkest contrast in this year’s area elections is in the House District 20 race where incumbent Republican Dickie Bell seeks a second term against Democrat Laura Kleiner.

Both want to create jobs in Virginia, but differ sharply on some of their views on K-12 education.

The two candidates are at different points in their lives. Kleiner, 22, graduated with a degree in political science last May from Mary Baldwin College. She is a dance and theater instructor.

She worked as a legislative intern in 2009 for Chesterfield Sen. John Watkins and toiled in the Creigh Deeds gubernatorial campaign two years ago.

She is the current Valley Region executive chair of the Virginia Young Democrats and also is the state faith and religion caucus chair.

Bell is in his 60s and worked as a special education teacher and coach in Augusta County and for more than a decade, served on the Staunton City Council. He also spent years serving on local boards and commissions before starting his political career.

Kleiner thinks she can bring some diversity to the Virginia General Assembly.

"We need an everyday individual who understands legislation, not another lawyer or another big face,’’ she said.

Kleiner believes she can reach across party lines and be bipartisan if elected.

Bell has not set term limits for himself, but said he doesn’t believe in being a career politician. He considers himself a public servant who has run for office after encouragement from supporters.

"We have too many people in government who have been there too long. It is true in Washington and in Richmond. They wear out their welcome and become less effective,’’ he said. "They lose sight of what made them go there in the first place."

The list of endorsements for Bell’s re-election is a Who’s Who of Virginia politics.

Sixth District Rep. Bob Goodlatte, former Virginia Gov. and Sen. George Allen, House Speaker Bill Howell and current Gov. Robert F. McDonnell have all endorsed Bell.

Kleiner was endorsed by Deeds when she announced her candidacy last May.

She earned the nomination by local Democrats in August and has faced an uphill battle to unseat Bell.

One of the clearest challenges for Kleiner has been raising money.

During October alone, the state Board of Elections shows that Kleiner raised just under $1,400.

Bell received about 10 times that much in October.

Bell’s October war chest of about $14,000 includes contributions from the Virginia Coal Association, Virginia Hospital Association and the Virginia Beer Wholesalers

During 2011, the Virginia Public Access Project reports that Bell raised more than $62,000 as of late October compared to Kleiner’s $13,694.

Kleiner said it is difficult to get name recognition when her opponent has raised so much more money.

But she said if "we let money do the talking, we are not electing the people who can best represent us."

One challenge for both Bell and Kleiner is the sheer geography of the district. House 20 stretches from rural Highland County to rural Nelson County and includes the cities of Staunton and Waynesboro and a portion of Augusta County.

There seems little disagreement about the top issue — the economy.

"As long as we are sort of sputtering and a couple hundred thousand people are not working, then we are not where we need to be,’’ Bell said. The incumbent wants to keep taxes low and regulations as few as possible.

Bell said it is important to have Virginia’s workforce ready for when the economy rebounds. "It is important we stay up with it,’’ said Bell, who is an advocate for career and workforce training.

Kleiner wants to see more done for small businesses.

She proposes pro-rating the amount of the sales tax going to the state for those small business just starting so they will have a chance to survive.

She said the amount of sales tax relief would depend on the need of the small business.

Kleiner also proposes having the state’s major universities work with the commonwealth on biotech and other new initiatives.

As a former teacher, Bell has an interest in K-12 education. He was the House sponsor of virtual schools legislation that was signed into law in 2010.

Funding is an issue for virtual schools, which allows school districts to contract with vendors for online courses for students.

McDonnell touted virtual education as part of his education reform package when he ran for governor two years ago.

Kleiner is not a proponent of virtual schools, saying they encourage a social isolation that does not prepare students for the workplace.

"There are very few jobs after K-12 where you can just interact through the computer and e-mail,’’ she said. She also worries about funding being diverted from traditional K-12 to virtual schools.

Bell said there is no permanent funding mechanism for virtual schools now and said he plans to meet with education leaders later this month to discuss funding.

Bell said virtual schools offer opportunities for students in rural areas to get the same education those students in more populated areas do.

He said Campbell County has had a virtual lab program for years. "I’m concerned about access, opportunities and removing obstacles for the education of these kids,’’ he said.

Educators in Virginia have said the advantage of virtual schools are the course offerings that could include foreign languages such as German and Japanese and classes like advanced physics.

Regardless of what happens on Tuesday, Kleiner said her campaign has been a worthwhile experience.

"Once I knew I was running I put both feet on the ground. It has been a grassroots campaign talking to folks and knocking on doors. It has not just been a campaign about myself but about the district,’’ she said.

Bell has campaigned hard. He visited an Augusta County high school football game at Buffalo Gap High on Friday night, and worked part of Waynesboro on Saturday morning.

"We have campaigned hard. We have knocked on doors all over the district,’’ he said.