Democratic attorney general candidate Del. Donald McEachin said at a South Boston campaign stop Thursday that the current Republican administration in Virginia has put politics above public safety.
Speaking before a crowd of supporters at 220 Seafood Restaurant, McEachin refuted Republican claims as being the party that's "tough on crime," by contrasting his own voting record in the Virginia House of Delegates with the record of his Republican opponent, Jerry Kilgore.
"For the past four years, my opponent has been a lobbyist. He's been lobbying for personal interests; he's been lobbying for big business," said McEachin.
"In contrast, I've been a lawyer for all my professional life. As an elected official in the House of Delegates, I've represented ordinary people.
"I ask you, are we going to continue to allow the attorney general's office to be dominated by special interests?"
McEachin said that Kilgore has been a lobbyist for the past four years, while he has, during the past six years, been in the House courts and justice committee, casting "vote after vote that's truly tough on crime, making it tough on criminals."
"I'm the fellow that wrote the law that makes the drug Ecstasy illegal in Virginia. Before I wrote that law, Virginia commonwealth's attorneys couldn't prosecute someone who used Ecstasy."
McEachin further listed his support for Project Exile and the SABRE anti-drug program as examples of his reaching across party lines to address crime issues.
McEachin accused Kilgore of "sitting idly by for the past four years while the Republicans sacrificed public safety for politics."
In support of that statement, McEachin noted numbers from the Superintendent of State Police citing a shortage of 500 state troopers, 200 of them already authorized with another 300 needed.
"The Sheriffs Association will tell you that they are 35 deputies short statewide," added McEachin.
The Richmond native said to supporters that Virginia is also short 100 prosecutors, according to the Commonwealth Attorney's Association.
"That means prosecutors are overworked; they have to enter plea bargains sometimes because they're not prepared.
"They have more work than they can shake a stick at."
McEachin also made reference to the cutback in funding for the forensics lab in Richmond as creating a "backlog of information that hasn't come out because we're not paying people overtime to work there."
"That translates to prosecutors not getting the information they need to be as effective; it translates to police officers not getting the information they need to track down suspects."
McEachin stated there was more to the attorney general's office than crime fighting, citing a victim's rights bill he forwarded last year that supported victim's rights.
"It says that if you're a victim of a felony, the commonwealth's attorney has an obligation to talk to you, to tell you what's going on and to tell you if there's a plea bargain - and why there's a plea bargain."
McEachin reaffirmed his promise to actively enforce environmental laws he said were not enforced the past eight years, making sure polluters were fined and punished.
The father of three daughters said it was a moral obligation that we pass on to the next generation in Virginia a better environment than what we have through tougher laws to make air and water cleaner.
In addressing education issues, McEachin criticized the administration's budget shortfall that has left schools "$1 billion short," and reaffirmed his opposition to school vouchers by promising "no dual school system on my watch."
As Attorney General, McEachin said he would fully support Roe versus Wade and a woman's right to choose. He voted for the ban on partial birth abortion and supports parental notification in most instances.
"As Attorney General, I'll call the shots the way I see them," said McEachin.
"No one's going to talk me into doing something contrary to the laws of Virginia, the Virginia Constitution or the U.S. Constitution," he added, citing separation of church and state issues including giving state bonds to religious institutions.
"The key thing is there was a time in Virginia when the attorney general's office, whether there was a Democrat or Republican in it, called the balls and strikes as they saw them," said McEachin.
"Since Gilmore, there's been a political agenda that's been advanced...the Attorney General's office is engaged in the practice of politics, not the practice of law."

Richmond Mayor and Democratic lieutenant governor candidate Tim Kaine emphasized his bi-partisan success in economic development and crime reduction in Richmond while campaigning in South Boston on Saturday.
Kaine also outlined the differences between himself and Republican opponent, Jay Katzen, while promising to protect Tobacco Commission funds.
The son-in-law of former Virginia Gov. Linwood Holton compared his coalition-building in a diverse and sometimes racially divided Richmond as a key in preparing him for statewide office, while contrasting his politics to those of Katzen.
"It's about results, that's what local voters demand," said Kaine, who said he has worked with a mixture of both Republicans and Democrats on Richmond City Council, and worked with elected officials of surrounding counties who were predominantly Republican.
"My father-in-law was governor when I believe 85 percent or more of legislators were Democrats - we've had lots of long talks about that over the years."
"I use uniter, not divider, language. I think that's the only reason someone like me gets elected mayor of a city like Richmond, which is about 62 percent African-American," said Kaine.
"I can bring people together to make things happen."
Kaine said Katzen, as a three-term legislator, goes to Richmond 45 days each year, looks at about 3,000 pieces of legislation, passes some of them, adjourns, washes his hands, and then goes home.
"A local elected official, such as a mayor or county supervisor, is on duty 365 days a year. It's much less about ideological positions and party than about implementation.
"It's more direct, accountable, grass roots and tangible - I think that's the difference.
"Katzen cut his teeth in a partisan environment that's becoming more partisan. I cut my teeth in an environment where differences don't mean that much."
Kaine mentioned the creation of bus service from Richmond into Chesterfield County after a 25-year lull and the cooperation of surrounding counties in financing the convention center in downtown Richmond as "bridge-building" achievements of his administration.
In the area of education, Kaine said, as the father of three children Virginia's commitment to excellent public education is the top priority of government in his view.
"Virginia has a formula it's supposed to use to determine its public education investment, with the state providing 55 percent and localities 45 percent," said Kaine, who added that over the past two gubernatorial terms, the state has fallen about $1 billion short in its responsibilities.
"Some cities and wealthier counties can meet that unfunded mandate, but many cannot," said Kaine, saying the financial burden falls heaviest on rural, poorer counties and sometimes central cities.
"That impelled me to run - my opponent is the chief proponent of using tax dollars to support private schools," said Kaine, who added that he was against vouchers at this point, at least until Virginia meets it promise of public education.
"When the General Assembly every year passes an appropriation act that says we'll fund 55 percent of the cost of K-12 education, I might have a different feeling," said Kaine.
"I don't feel we should be talking about vouchers at the same time we're breaking our promise to public education."
Kaine said he wants to make sure the state targets its economic development activity toward areas that aren't growing as fast, including Southside, with incentives such as fiber optic cable and other technology.
"I think the state has the ability to craft enterprise zones where folks could get corporate income tax breaks for hiring employees within these zones that have less economic growth," said Kaine, who referred to a program he initiated in Richmond.
"There are very aggressive tax incentives in Richmond promoting economic development that I would offer as a model to other communities.
"In our community, we eliminated all business license taxes on small businesses... we were the first jurisdiction in Central Virginia to do that, to try to encourage start-up business as small as $100,000 in gross revenues or less - that's something all small communities can do."
Also mentioned was a Richmond tax abatement program, which states that if a property owner renovates a property and adds at least 20 percent to its value, there would be no property tax levied on the improvements for 15 years, and no property tax for 10 years.
When addressing public safety issues, Kaine noted the creation of Project Exile in Richmond has led to drops in the homicide rate and the rate of violent crime rate during his term as mayor.
"We cut the homicide rate by 60 percent and violent crime in half. We created Project Exile in Richmond, the only program endorsed jointly by gun control groups and the NRA," said Kaine.
"President Bush has announced that our Project Exile is to be the centerpiece of his national law enforcement program.
"I'm the only candidate in the race for lieutenant governor who doesn't think the Virginia gun laws should be changed at all," added Kaine.
Kaine said that his law firm was recruited by both Republicans and Democrats in the General Assembly last year to keep the hunting and fishing amendment on the ballot after legal challenges by the animal rights lobby.
One law Kaine would not change is the one handgun a month limitation.
"I'm a real believer in the Virginia one-handgun-a-month limitation passed by the bi-partisan General Assembly in 1993," said Kaine, who also said his opponent has repeatedly led efforts to repeal the limitation.
"I believe it's been a very successful law, and should stay on the books," said Kaine.
Kaine was adamant in stating that funds earmarked for the Tobacco Commission should be used only for two things - public health efforts tied to the effects of smoking and the economic conversion of farmers to soften the blow as the economy shifts.
"To use tobacco monies to balance the budget...to build roads is a real breach of faith with how those monies are supposed to be used."
Kaine, who grew up in Kansas, and whose parents are both from farm communities, said his family ties would not allow him to forget the less populated areas of the state.

A 44-year-old South Boston resident was sentenced last week in Halifax County Circuit Court to a total of 30 years in prison for four drug-related charges.
Ronnie Erwin Owen was sentenced to 10 years each in prison for two counts of cocaine distribution, five years for conspiracy to distribute cocaine and to five years for possession of a schedule one or schedule two controlled substance.
Owen was additionally found guilty of a probation violation at the sentencing before Judge William L. Wellons, who revoked Owen's previously suspended prison sentence.
Judge Wellons suspended all but one year each for Owen's two distribution and the possession charge, and he suspended Owen's entire five-year sentence for the conspiracy charge.
The court also resuspended all but one year of Owen's reimposed sentence, for a total prison sentence of four years.
The suspended portions of Owen's sentence were made conditional on his good behavior for 30 years after his release.
Owen was additionally ordered by the court to serve a two-year probationary period after his incarceration, to abstain from drugs and to submit to random drug tests.
· Robert Edward Cole, 18, of Virgilina, was sentenced last week to three years in prison for unauthorized use of an auto.
Judge Wellons suspended all but three months of Cole's sentence, conditional on his good behavior for three years upon his release.
The court additionally ordered Cole to serve a probationary period of two years.
· Leroy Cornelious Watkins, 56, of South Boston, was sentenced last week to five years in prison, with all but 6 months suspended, for felony DUI.
Judge Wellons additionally suspended Watkins' operator's license for one year for his refusal to take a blood/breath test, a misdemeanor.
The suspended portion of Watkins' sentence was made conditional on his good behavior for five years.
The court additionally ordered a one-year probationary period for Watkins, and that he abstain from drugs and alcohol.
· Michael Jackson, 25, of South Boston, was convicted last week of a probation violation.
Judge Wellons resuspended all but 60 days of Jackson's reinvoked prison sentence, and authorized work release for Jackson, if he qualified.

A 22-year-old man wanted in connection with last Wednesday night's shooting incident at the Willow Oaks Apartment complex turned himself in to authorities Thursday evening.
Marque Larmont Medley is currently held at the Blue Ridge Regional Jail on charges of robbery, shooting into an occupied vehicle and use of a firearm during commission of a felony.
According to police reports, officers responded to reports of shots fired in the vicinity of the Willow Oaks Apartment complex last Wednesday about 11 p.m.
When officers arrived, they noted a parked 1994 Toyota car with two gunshots in it, along with scattered glass at the scene from another vehicle.
A short time later, officers stopped a 1990 Ford van after noticing its side glass was missing. An occupant of the vehicle told officer M. Moreno that someone at the complex had displayed a handgun and demanded money.
The van's occupant said he turned and walked to his van, then heard gunshots.
South Boston police officer W. Ozmec is handling the investigation.
· A 22-year-old South Boston resident was arrested Thursday evening and charged with distribution of marijuana.
Reginald Lavar Traynham, whose address was listed at Fairmont Apartments, was arrested about 6:40 p.m. by South Boston police officer Wanda Garner on Poplar Creek Street, next to Willow Oaks Apartments.
According to South Boston Police Investigator Rick Loftis, about $260 in cash and six bags of marijuana were confiscated during the arrest, which came after a tip from a concerned citizen.
Traynham was released on bond after the arrest, according to police.
Loftis noted the importance of the tip in making the arrest, and encourages citizens to contact police if they witness a crime.
According to Loftis, anyone providing information to police may remain anonymous if they choose.
· Angela Ridgeway Moore, 31, of Philpott Road in Alton, was arrested Saturday by Sheriff's Deputy T.B. Sargent and charged with fraudulent conversion and removal of leased property from ABC Computers, a felony.
The alleged offense occurred on May 30.
· Linda Faye Henderson, 42, of Ball Park Loop in Halifax, was arrested Saturday by Sheriff's Deputy T.O. Lewis and charged with the willful failure to obey a summons, a misdemeanor.
The alleged offense occurred on July 30.
· Anthony Jerome Lanier, 22, of Jones Store Lane in Halifax, was arrested Saturday by Deputy J.L. Lucia and charged with misdemeanor trespassing.
The alleged offense occurred Saturday.
· Robert Marshall Pulliam, 29, of Edmundson Street in South Boston, was arrested Friday by Deputy T.K. Redd and charged with misdemeanor trespassing.
The alleged offense occurred July 6.

By Doug Loftis
When Frances Bennett says it's been a good year for the roses, it's been a good year for the roses. And if experience is a good teacher, this former elementary school educator easily passes the grade.
Frances, the youngest of four sons and daughters of Mr. and Mrs. James Wilborn, remembers sticking close to her mother, and those footsteps led to the garden behind their home at the corner of Grove and Irish in South Boston.
"I'm sure, before I got married, she had a rose garden."
Not just roses and a variety of other flowers, the Wilborn garden, of necessity, kept the family fed, especially during the years of the Great Depression. James Wilborn, founder of Wilborn's Hardware, was mayor of South Boston during the time when the banks failed. Frances recalls well that day when one of the town's police officers came to their home to inform her father of what had taken place.
"He pulled out a five dollar bill and told the policeman 'That's all we have to live on!'"
Like the Wilborn family, the family garden survived the economic hard times and some of the same roses Mrs. Wilborn nurtured over a half century ago still bloom brilliantly in her daughter's garden today.
"All my life, I've been in the garden," said Frances, mother herself of two sons and a daughter, grandmother of five and, come September, a great-grandmother.
But there were some years when Frances Wilborn was away from the garden and her home on Grove Avenue, the place where she was born and has lived in all her life. Even after she and her late husband, former high school coach Bill Bennett, were married May 10, 1947, they shared the two-story home on Grove Avenue that her parents had had constructed.
Frances had aspired to be a social worker but, just prior to graduating from Mary Baldwin College, was persuaded to return to South Boston and teach the third grade at Main Street Elementary School in 1944.
Just one year in the classroom "cured me and I quit." Her $1,050 annual salary had nothing to do with her decision to give up teaching.
Frances went home to Grove Avenue and began raising her family and gardening again. By the time her youngest child was old enough to enter kindergarten, she resumed her teaching career in the Halifax County public school system in 1965. In 1970 she then joined the faculty at Halifax Academy and taught there for the next 13 years until the school closed in 1983.
Once again, she was able to return home and spend more time in her garden and with her family. The roses, especially, demand much of her time.
In early spring, she cuts her roses back, sometimes to the ground. She insists that the cut stems have a fresh green color for the start of the growing season.
And, once a month, her roses are fed with a simple 10-10-10 analysis fertilizer. She's learned that it does as well as the more expensive "rose" feeds.
Every seven days, provided the daytime highs do not exceed 90 degrees, she sprays her roses with Orthenex to protect against disease, black spot and insects including those pesky beetles.
It's actually been a good year for the beetles. Frances has seen just three in her garden this year and can only guess that the beetles are having mercy on her.
The fall blooming season has just begun and while the blossoms are smaller and foliage is not quite as full as during the spring and summer, the depth of the color is, like Frances Wilborn Bennett, very special.

It wasn't pretty, but the shine isn't going to fall off of Halifax County's 21-6 win over Dan River in Friday night's season opening "benefit game" in Ringgold.
Comets head coach James Hodges isn't going to let the fact that the win came in a "benefit" game, a game that does not count in either team's won-loss column, take anything away from his team's victory..
Nor is he going to let the fact that the Comets stumped their toes by losing the ball six times on turnovers and being penalized 10 times for 70 yards take away any of the pleasure of the win.
Instead, he and the team are savoring the victory, a victory that marked the first time in five years that a Comets football team has won its season opening game.
"It's been quite awhile since Halifax County has won its first ball game of the season," Hodges remarked.
"We did it against a good (Group) AA team. Dan River has got some good athletes. They don't have many player but ones they do have can play.
"They gave us all we wanted," added Hodges.
"We learned from this game and got a win."
The last time a Halifax County team won its season opener came in 1996 when the Comets downed Dinwiddie in the season opener.
Friday night's "benefit game," a fund-raising game that the Virginia High School League allows schools to play in lieu of one of the allotted two preseason scrimmages, revealed both the good and bad sides of the Comets.
The Comets showed a good deal of potential and did a lot of things right against the Wildcats.
Junior tailback Alonzo Coleman had a big night, rambling for a 118 yards on 15 carries and scoring on a nine-yard burst for a touchdown late in the first half that gave the Comets a lead they would never relinquish.
Blake Wilson, a senior fullback, seeing his first action as a starter, logged 52 yards on nine carries and scored on a 20-yard run late in the third quarter.
For the game, the Comets logged 203 yards rushing and a 222 yards of total offense.
The big numbers were a sign that the Comets' offensive line did a good job of opening holes for the runners.
Halifax County's defense stopped Dan River's running attack, holding the Wildcats to either no gain or negative yardage on 12 of their 28 rushes.
The Comets' young defensive secondary, a unit that had been a huge question mark, also played well.
"Our secondary did a pretty good job," Hodges pointed out.
"They had a couple of breakdowns but they didn't hurt us.
"We used several different people. We basically went with Chris Emory, Ray Owen and Ricky Petty. We also got some playing time back there for Hundley Crews and Steve Gregory."
On the other side of the ledger, the Comets stumped their toes on several occasions.
Halifax County victimized itself with six turnovers, losing five of the six fumbles it had on the night and throwing one interception.
In addition, the Comets had several penalties that choked off scoring drives, finishing the game with 10 penalties for a total of 70 yards.
Hodges said his overall grade for the team would be a "B-."
"We certainly passed (the first test)," Hodges said.
"On effort, I would give them an "A+." We didn't execute that badly. We just hurt ourselves with fumbles and penalties."
The Comets immediately showed its potential ability to control the football.
Starting their opening possession from their own 28-yard line, the Comets pieced together a 16-play drive that included four first downs and took over 10 minutes off of the clock.
Unfortunately, the near picture-perfect drive ended when the Comets coughed up the football and Dan River recovered at its own 28-yard line.
Halifax County got itself on track on its third possession of the half, marching 78 yards in five plays with Coleman capping the drive with a nine-yard touchdown run with 3:38 left in the first half.
The score was set up by a 51-yard scamper by Coleman that placed the ball at the Dan River 19-yard line and a 10-yard penalty against the Wildcats that moved the ball down to the nine-yard line.
Halifax County added a two-point conversion when quarterback Karl Staten, holding for kicker Adam reeves, pulled the ball up and flicked it over to Steve Gregory who was wide open in the left side of the end zone. That play put the Comets up 8-0.
Dan River struggled by comparison, going three plays and out in each of its first three possessions.
Even when the Comets gave Dan River an almost sure scoring opportunity, the Wildcats were unable to capitalize on it.
Halifax County coughed up the football on a bad pitch and Dan River recovered the ball on the Comets' 23-yard line with 36.5 seconds left in the half.
However, the Wildcats gained only nine yards in the four plays they ran before the half ended and came up empty.
Halifax County was so dominant in the first half that despite losing three out of four fumbles and being penalized seven times, it racked up 155 yards of offense as compared to 18 yards of total offense for Dan River.
In the second half, the Comets saw an early drive get killed with an interception of a pass to B.J. Pearce at the Dan River 14-yard line.
The Comets followed with a big defensive stand that included a Ross Shepperd sack of Wildcats quarterback Keith Harris at the Dan River four-yard line.
Halifax County partially blocked the ensuing Dan River punt which a Dan River player downed at the Dan River 20-yard line.
Blake Wilson scored on the Comets' first play from scrimmage with a 20-yard scamper with 4:38 left in the third period. Reeves' kick put the Comets up 15-0.
Dan River took advantage of one of the Comets' lost fumbles to get its only score of the game.
After recovering a Comets fumble at the Comets' 26-yard line with 5:08 left in the game, Dan River, with the help of a Halifax County penalty, went the distance in six plays that consumed just over three minutes.
C.J. Brandon got the score on a six-yard run with 2:04 left in the game. The extra point attempt failed, leaving the Wildcats trailing 15-6.
Halifax County concluded its scoring when Ricky Petty returned the ensuing Dan River kickoff 80 yards for a touchdown with 1:37 left in the game.
The extra point kick by Reeves failed, leaving the Comets with a 21-6 lead it held the rest of the way.

Lelia Featherston Walton

Lelia Featherston Walton of Alton died August 21 at her home.
Mrs. Walton was born June 1, 1924, the daughter of the late Willie B. and Ella M. Featherston and was married to the late Thomas C. Walton.
Survivors include three daughters, Gladys F. Henderson and husband, Moses and Patricia F. Medley, all of Danville, Verdale M. Walton of Alton; five sons, Floyd J. Featherston and wife, Aletha of Hampton, Joseph D. Featherston of South Boston, Cecil C. Walton, William D. Walton and wife, Doris and Earl T. Walton, all of Turbeville; 16 grandchildren; 14 great grandchildren; one sister, Frances F. Yancey of Alton; three sisters-in-law, Martha H. Featherston, Dorothy W. Featherston of Alton and Fannie W. Medley of Turbeville; five brothers-in-law, Henry Yancey of Alton, William, Edward, Charlie and Earl Walton, all of South Boston; a faithful friend, Lewis Boxley of Alton; and one foster child, Melissa A. Ferrell. Three sisters and three brothers preceded her in death.
Funeral services for Mrs. Walton were held August 26 at 2 p.m. at St. Mark Baptist Church with the Rev. Pettiford officiating. Burial was in the church cemetery.