Curren kicks off campaign

STAUNTON — Coining a slogan of “we can do better,” House District 20 Democratic candidate Erik Curren on Tuesday officially kicked off his campaign to unseat four-term Republican incumbent Chris Saxman.

Curren and his supporters gathered outside the Staunton Train Station where he talked of green jobs for an improved economy, better pay for Virginia teachers and alternative energy. He also referred to the current tough economy.

“I know a lot of people who are laid off, have had their hours cut back and have lost benefits,” said Curren. He said “we can do better than what the House of Delegates is doing for us right now.”

Curren criticized Saxman for voting last week against Virginia’s acceptance of $125.5 million in stimulus money to extend unemployment benefits to part-time workers and residents in job-training programs.

“He voted against a helping hand,” Curren said.

Saxman countered that expanding unemployment benefits would hurt small businesses as well as people seeking part-time work.

“It would cost small business millions of dollars and would be a disincentive to hire part-time workers,” he said.

Legislators already had voted to extend unemployment benefits from 26 weeks to 59 weeks for full-time workers, Saxman said.

Curren is a former teacher at Blue Ridge Community College and James Madison University and now marketing director for the American Shakespeare Center.

He wants to pay teachers more so “that we can get the best education for our kids.”

Saxman, also a former teacher, has supported taking money out of public education for different purposes, according to Curren.

Saxman said three of his four children attend public schools and he has authored budget language calling for federal No Child Left Behind money to be redirected to pay teacher salaries.

“I think it is in our best interests to pay our teachers at the national average,” he said. “We have an accountability system in Virginia that works well. If we get out of No Child Left Behind, we can keep the money and pay the teachers to the national average.”

Curren reinforced his commitment to renewable energy saying it could “create thousands of jobs.”

He spoke of weatherized buildings, electric cars and a reduced dependence on oil. That includes opposition to offshore drilling, saying the crude would flow to international markets.

Saxman is an ardent backer of offshore drilling, which he said will lower energy costs and create high-paying jobs.

That stance reflects the national GOP’s battle cry during the presidential campaign last summer, when chants of “Drill, baby, drill” rang out at the party’s national convention.

It also points to another problem, Curren said: Saxman, who was Virginia campaign manager for Republican presidential nominee John McCain, has focused too much on national and state issues while failing to bring industry and high-paying jobs to the 20th District.

Saxman called that charge “disingenuous.”

A Saxman family business, Shenandoah Valley Bottled Water, employs 50 people in Staunton, he said. And, Saxman said, he helped keep open the Commonwealth Center for Children and Adolescents, which provides 128 state jobs in Staunton. In addition, Saxman said, he co-sponsored legislation with Sen. Emmett Hanger to create an arts and cultural district in Staunton.

Working on the McCain campaign “does not mean I’m not in tune with what is going on in my district,” Saxman said.

The 20th District is made up of Staunton, Highland County and parts of Rockingham and Augusta counties.