VIRGINIA ELECTS ANOTHER PRO-LIFER TO CONGRESS

By Carol Tobias, NRL PAC Director

Virginia pro-lifers are smiling broadly, having elected another pro-lifer to Congress. In a very competitive, hard-fought election against a well-funded pro-abortion opponent, state Senator Randy Forbes (R) prevailed in a special election June 19 held to fill the seat of pro-abortion Congressman Norman Sisisky (D), who passed away in March.

Forbes, a lawyer, defeated fellow state Senator Louise Lucas (D) by a 52.02%-47.82% margin. Forbes tallyied 70,917 votes to 65,190 for Lucas to win the congressional seat from Virginia's Tidewater area.

"Virginians in the 4th Congressional District have added a pro- life voice and vote to the U.S. House of Representatives," said Catherine Driscoll, chairman of the Virginia Society for Human Life Political Action Committee (VSHL PAC). "Randy Forbes's solid pro-life voting record in the Virginia General Assembly will be a welcome addition in the United States Congress."

Driscoll told NRL News that Forbes was the chief patron of the Woman's Right to Know Bill (also known as Informed Consent) in the 2001 General Assembly. "He proved both pro-life commitment and skill as a legislator by steering the bill to passage without change, despite many attempts by pro-abortion legislators to weaken it or kill it altogether," she said. " Senator Forbes also was chief patron and negotiator on the Patient Autonomy Protection Act that passed and became law last year."

The race was significant in and of itself but drew national attention for two reasons. First, rightly or not, political pundits framed the election as a kind of mini-referendum on President Bush's first five months in office and perhaps as a bellwether for the 2002 midterm congressional elections.

Second, Republicans hold a very slim majority in the House. With the turnover in a seat previously held by a Democrat, the GOP now holds 222 in the House to the Democrats' 210.

From the time pro-abortion Congressman Sisisky died at the age of 73, it was clear that the district that he had represented for nearly 20 years was a toss-up.

Bill Clinton carried the 4th Congressional District in 1992 and 1996. In 2000, George W. Bush eked out a win in this district in his pursuit of the White House. Although pro-abortion incumbent Senator Chuck Robb (D) lost his re-election bid to George Allen (R), he did carry the 4th district.

Forbes has a solid pro-life voting record. First elected to the Virginia General Assembly in 1990, he was elected to the state Senate in 1997.

By contrast, with the lone exception of a bill to ban partial- birth abortion, Lucas has voted consistently against all pro- life legislation. She voted against the Woman's Right to Know Bill and against requiring that parents be notified before their minor daughter gets an abortion. In previous years, she opposed parental notification for minors before an abortion and the licensing of abortion clinics.

In her race for Congress, Lucas was endorsed by EMILY's List. Only Democratic women candidates who support unrestricted abortion on demand are considered pro-abortion enough to win support from this political action committee.

National Right to Life PAC and VSHL PAC worked to get out the pro-life vote in the district.

Pro-lifers walked door to door to encourage people to vote, which proved crucial in an election in which only 37% of the registered voters participated.Congratulations to VSHL PAC and thanks for sending another pro- lifer to Congress!