Creigh Deeds

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R. Creigh Deeds
Creigh Deeds
Member of the Virginia State Senate
from the 25th district
Incumbent
Assumed office 
2002
Preceded by Emily Couric
Born January 4, 1958 (1958-01-04) (age 50)
Richmond, Virginia
Political party Democratic
Spouse Pam Deeds
Profession Attorney
Religion Presbyterian

Robert Creigh Deeds (born January 4, 1958 in Richmond) is a Virginia lawyer and politician who serves in the Senate of Virginia, representing the 25th District since 2002. He was the Democratic nominee for Attorney General of Virginia in 2005, eventually losing by the closest margin in Virginia history, 323 votes or about 0.017%.

Senator Deeds is the only declared Democratic candidate for the 2009 Virginia gubernatorial election.

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[edit] Early life

Deeds was born in Richmond, Virginia, and named for confederate hero David Creigh. As such, Deeds simply goes by the name Creigh. However, his family soon moved to rural Bath County, their ancestral home. His family had historically been important in Bath County politics and his grandfather, Creigh Tyree, ran the Democratic Party in the county during the Great Depression. Perhaps as a result of this heritage, Deeds was drawn to a political career from a young age, and declared in high school, "I want to be president of the United States".

After graduating from high school, Deeds enrolled in Concord College, graduating in 1980. Next, Deeds entered the Wake Forest University School of Law from which he received his JD in 1984. In 1987, only three years after finishing law school, Deeds was elected Commonwealth's Attorney in Bath County after defeating the incumbent with more than 65% of the vote, beginning a long political career.

[edit] State Legislature

In 1991, Deeds won a seat in the Virginia House of Delegates from the 18th as a Democrat, defeating incumbent Republican Delegate Emmett Hanger with an unheard of 57% of the vote. He was re-elected 5 times with an average 82% of the vote, serving as a delegate for ten years. He was elected to the Virginia State Senate in a special election in 2001 after the death of Senator Emily Couric. He was subsequently re-elected in 2003.

During his legislative career, Deeds campaigned for environmental legislation, including cleaning up a landfill in Alleghany County, a part of his district. Deeds also supported hunting and fishing rights and drafted an amendment to the Virginia Constitution that guarantees hunting and fishing as fundamental rights to Virginians. Deeds also helped pass Megan's Law, a law requiring that sex offenders register with the state.

[edit] Campaign for Attorney General

In 2005, Deeds and John Edwards, another Virginia state senator from Roanoke, both announced that they planned to run for Attorney General of Virginia in the Democratic primary. However, Edwards later decided not to run, leaving Deeds as the Democratic nominee for the office. As such, Deeds was left to face Republican Bob McDonnell in the November general election.

[edit] Issues and Positions

In the campaign, Deeds presented himself as a conservative Democrat, supporting gun rights, strong punishment for criminals, and the death penalty. Senator Deeds is strongly pro-choice, although he did profess opposition to partial birth abortions. In what many considered a victory omen, Deeds' stance on gun rights earned him the endorsement of the NRA. However, the McDonnell campaign outspent Deeds by almost three million dollars (McDonnell spent $5,962,067 whereas Deeds spent $3,103,040).

[edit] Outcome

  • 2005 Race for Virginia Attorney General
    • Bob McDonnell (R), 970,886 49.96%
    • Creigh Deeds (D), 970,563 49.95%

[edit] Recount

Due to the closeness of the race's outcome, Deeds announced that he would ask for a recount. Judge Theodore Markow of Richmond set the recount for December 20, 2005, a date so close to the inauguration that invitations to the event were mailed without a name for the Attorney General to be inaugurated. However, the recount reaffirmed the earlier outcome and McDonnell became Attorney General.

[edit] Return to the Senate

After losing the Attorney General race, Deeds returned to work in the Virginia Senate. Deeds quickly introduced several bills inspired by his defeat including SB 628 to limit out of state campaign contributions, and SB 272 to require voting "paper trails" from electronic voting machines. Deeds also introduced bills to address some of the issues he had raised in his campaign including SB 146 to limit the sale of materials used to produce methamphetamine and measures to regulate sex offenders that became SB 559.

[edit] Future

Although Deeds lost the election for Attorney General, he is considered to be one of the front-runners for the Democratic nomination for governor in 2009. Deeds has formed a PAC to promote Democratic candidates across Virginia.

The National Journal, a publication that watches politics, in a section entitled "Virginia's stars" said that Senator Deeds was, "one of the best fighters we got." and "He'll be seen again in the future."

On December 13, 2007, Deeds officially enterd the 2009 gubernatorial race.

[edit] Professional career

Prior to beginning his service in the General Assembly, Deeds was the Commonwealth's Attorney for Bath County. He maintained a private practice in Bath County from 1991 until 2006, when he joined the large Richmond corporate firm Hirschler Fleischer. In June of 2007 Deeds left Hirshler Fleicher and moved to Framme Law Firm, PC.

[edit] Future Deeds PAC

In September 2006, Senator Deeds founded Future Deeds PAC, an organization devoted to regaining a Democratic majority in the Virginia General Assembly. In a letter on the PAC’s site, Senator Deeds says:

"I’d like to take this opportunity to let you know what I’ve been up to the past few months and let you know about the “Future Deeds” I have been planning. We must elect Democratic majorities to the General Assembly if we want to keep Virginia moving forward. I’m convinced that we can take important steps toward regaining control of the General Assembly in the 2007 elections. That’s why I’m proud to announce the formation of my new political action committee – the Future Deeds PAC – an organization that will work to get Democrats elected to the Virginia General Assembly and take back the majority in the state senate."
"Next year provides us with a unique opportunity to regain the majority. I know that with hard work we can take back the Virginia Senate. Right now I’m recruiting strong candidates with a commitment to moving our state forward and we already have some exceptional ones ready to share their visions for Virginia’s future. I hope we can all join together in these efforts to give Governor Tim Kaine the help he needs in the General Assembly to bring responsible leadership back to our commonwealth. In the coming years Virginia will face real challenges, and we need real leaders with real solutions to keep us moving forward."

[edit] Interest Group Ratings

[edit] Election Results

General Election for Virginia Senate, 2007
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Democratic Creigh Deeds 98.79
General election for Virginia Attorney General, 2005
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Republican Bob McDonnell 970,886 49.96 -10.1%
Democratic Creigh Deeds 970,563 49.95 +10.03%
General Election for Virginia Senate, 2003
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Democratic Creigh Deeds 98.4
Special Election for Virginia Senate, 2001
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Democratic Creigh Deeds 69
Republican Jane Maddux 31
General election for Virginia House of Delegates, 2001
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Democratic Creigh Deeds 77.7
Independent Kathleen Orion 22.3
General election for Virginia House of Delegates, 1999
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Democratic Creigh Deeds 74.3
Republican Michael Collins 25.6
General election for Virginia House of Delegates, 2001
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Democratic Creigh Deeds 85.3
Independent Kathleen Orion 14.4
General election for Virginia House of Delegates, 1995
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Democratic Creigh Deeds 72.2
Republican BW Nicely 24.3
General election for Virginia House of Delegates, 1993
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Democratic Creigh Deeds 99.7
General election for Virginia House of Delegates, 1991
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Democratic Creigh Deeds 57.1
Republican Emmett Hanger (Incumbent) 42.9

[edit] References

[edit] External links