Paul Fraim (D-Norfolk) for Governor?
By: Corey
Published On: 5/8/2006 10:04:38 AM
Today's Virginian Pilot runs an in-depth story on the possibilities of Norfolk's Democratic Mayor Paul Fraim being a Democratic candidate for Governor in 2009. Fraim won re-election earlier this month to the seat (the first time the mayor's seat was elected and not appointed) with over 77% of the vote. For perspective Kaine carried the city with 66% and Kerry with 61%.
Sabato, a Norfolk native and director of the Center For Politics at the University of Virginia, said Democrats around the state are quietly talking about Fraim as a successor to Gov. Timothy M. Kaine in 2009.
"He ought to think about it," Sabato said. "The Democratic Party has no obvious successor to Kaine. He is very popular around the state."
Sabato said if former Gov. Mark R. Warner decides to run again, the nomination is his. Otherwise, he said Fraim has as good a chance as anyone.
The article goes on to draw comparisons of Kaine's rise to power with a possible Fraim candidacy.
Perhaps so, but Kaine and Fraim have similar backgrounds, Sabato said, and that makes Fraim attractive to state Democrats.
Kaine was the mayor of Richmond who led a biracial coalition and had strong business support. Fraim has support from the city's black and business communities.
Kaine and Fraim are close friends, and flew to Dearborn, Mich., together last week to lobby Ford officials not to close the company's Norfolk Assembly Plant.
"I would think Paul Fraim would be a very strong candidate," Sabato said. "It's well known that Tim Kaine asked him to run for lieutenant governor in the last election and, had he run, I think he would have won.
Who are you liking for statewide office in 2009? (because it is never to soon)
Comments
Too fast! (Josh - 5/8/2006 10:14:57 AM)
Corey, you're just too damned fast sometimes.
Nice catch on this story. I didn't know anything about Fraim, but I think he's going to do great things.
:) (Corey - 5/8/2006 10:15:50 AM)
That's what I get paid for :)
YOU'RE GETTING PAID!? (Josh - 5/8/2006 3:02:54 PM)
I need to renegotiate my contract! ;)
Creigh Deeds (Corey - 5/8/2006 10:19:24 AM)
Of course Creigh Deeds fits somewhere in this picture too. If him and his family are up for the grueling nature of the campaign one more time, I see a Deeds candidacy getting massive grass roots support similiar to that of
Jim Webb.
-Jim Webb for Senate
300 Votes for Creigh! (Josh - 5/8/2006 10:22:40 AM)
I think we'll spend a lot of time hearing that in 2009.
Creigh Deeds and Paul Fraim (DemTilDeath - 5/8/2006 11:19:58 AM)
They're both fantastic. Virginia would be in great shape with either one. What Fraim has done for Norfolk is nothing short of a miracle.
Amazing (Vivian J. Paige - 5/8/2006 12:08:56 PM)
It always amazes me that folks say Fraim has done so much for Norfolk. Fraim is just one vote on council, just like any other vote. He hasn't done any of this stuff alone. Don't get me wrong - I like Fraim well enough. But I also know that he has made deals with Wright in exchange for Wright's support of him for elected mayor.
Setting up the obvious McDonnell-Deeds rematch. (va.walter - 5/8/2006 11:19:35 AM)
Could be fun.
McDonnell... (DemTilDeath - 5/8/2006 11:21:49 AM)
Scary guy. He'd be a disaster as governor.
Don't think so (Vivian J. Paige - 5/8/2006 12:00:26 PM)
I had to go out this morning for a Phil Kellam event so Corey beat me to posting this. But I have posted on my blog what's shaping up in Norfolk.
If Fraim is to follow Kaine's path, he will be running for LTGOV in 2009. I don't think Fraim has the recognition statewide to make a run for governor just yet and I don't see him having it in 3 years, either.
One thing that I found interesting:
"The Democratic Party has no obvious successor to Kaine."
Ouch! What about Creigh Deeds?
Unfortunately (Josh - 5/8/2006 12:34:54 PM)
I love Creigh Deeds. I was proud to support him as the heir to Emily's seat, and I'm proud to have supported him for AG. The problem for Creigh as Governor, is that Unfortunately, he has no executive experience. As Mayor of Richmond and as Lt Gov, Kaine could claim it. Creigh is just a smart, charming rural lawyer who's been in the Senate for a while. I love Creigh to Death, but Gov is an exec position and it requires exec or at least statewide (eg, AG) credentials to qualify.
Warner had no "state-wide" credentials (DanG - 5/8/2006 1:56:17 PM)
And he's the best Governor we've had in a generation.
Josh is right (Ben - 5/8/2006 2:15:11 PM)
Warner had no elected office, but he certainly had executive expierence.
Perhaps (Corey - 5/8/2006 12:34:59 PM)
Perhaps some home court advantage from the local paper. To me Deeds is the obvious successor to Kaine until Deeds says otherwise. I do like Fraim as a good Lt Gov candidate though.
-Jim Webb for Senate
Sabato's quote (Vivian J. Paige - 5/8/2006 12:43:07 PM)
That was Sabato's quote. I'm surprised he said it, especially since Deeds did so well in the race.
Good point (Corey - 5/8/2006 12:50:21 PM)
I missed that....although Sabato is from Norfolk but Deeds, to me anyways, seems to be on everybody's list for 2009 contenders.
Perhaps by obvious he means that Kaine ascended from Lt Gov to Gov and there are no current D's in statewide office other than Kaine.
Fraim (Neal2028 - 5/8/2006 12:33:29 PM)
Wasn't there talk before 2005 that Fraim thought about running for LG?
For Governor, my top choice is Byrne, but I would also be very open to Puckett for Governor.
I like Payne, Beyer, and Deeds for LG.
Maybe Petersen for AG.
As for Fraim, I'll have to learn more about him before I say I could support him for Governor.
Puckett (Corey - 5/8/2006 12:37:01 PM)
I like the Puckett idea as well.
Love Leslie but (Vivian J. Paige - 5/8/2006 12:41:35 PM)
I'm not sure she could win the governor's race.
Puckett/Byrne (Neal2028 - 5/8/2006 4:21:11 PM)
With Byrne, you know what you're getting and where she stands. It would have to be a really grassroots effort to get her elected.
With Puckett, he's not a known commodity around Virginia so the opportunity to mold his image would be early on, and would have to be very agressive. He would also have to come out strong on economic issues to balance his social issues views.
Conclusions (Corey - 5/8/2006 5:04:46 PM)
Although there is no "logical" successor to Tim Kaine, it certainly cannot be said that us Dems do not have a deep bench. In fact we have a very deep bench for 2009.
Also on our side in 2009 is we will have a Democratic Senator from Virginia to help us campaign :).
-Jim Webb for Senate
77%.....is that all (Newport News Dem - 5/8/2006 6:48:27 PM)
Mayor Joe Frank in Newport News just won re-election with over 80% of the vote.......
Fraim's got nutin :-)
77% against a nobody (Vivian J. Paige - 5/9/2006 12:59:11 AM)
Doesn't mean beans. If Fraim had won 77% against a credible opponent that would be one thing. But he ran against a nobody, who didn't spend anything other than gas money on the campaign - no signs, no palms cards, nada.
If Fraim was "all that" he should have gotten a lot more than 77%.
I take it you're not a big fan of Paul? (DanG - 5/9/2006 2:02:36 PM)
I don't think he'll run for any state-wide office. I think he'd make a great LG Candidate, and I'm always looking for Statewide Democratic Candidates from my area. I just doubt that Fraim wants to go Statewide.
He's fine (Vivian J. Paige - 5/9/2006 9:14:31 PM)
I have no problems with Paul Fraim. I just pointed out that he only got 77% of the vote running against "Not Paul Fraim" and not a real candidate.
I posted this piece yesterday. Fraim's going to run statewide; it's just a question of which office he's going for. My guess is LTGOV.