Special election candidates split by generations, ideas

VIRGINIA BEACH

A dead mouse is on the floor of Barry Knight's garage. He snatches the lifeless creature by its tail, opens the door and flings it into the weeds, never missing a beat as he talks about his race for the House of Delegates.

Knight is a farmer and a Republican. If he wins Tuesday's 81st District special election, he would be only the second farmer in a General Assembly populated largely by lawyers.

John LaCombe, 24, is a Democrat who opposes Knight. LaCombe is running for the House at an age when, he concedes, many peers are weighing the latest PlayStation upgrades.

The two candidates covet the seat vacated by Del. Terrie Suit, a Republican who resigned in October to become a lobbyist. The 81st District runs south from Rudee Inlet and includes southern Virginia Beach, Oceana Naval Air Station and Creeds as well as a portion of southeastern Chesapeake.

Knight is the favorite in the election. In a Republican primary in November, the Beach Planning Commission member won 59 percent of the vote against two strong candidates.

Along rural Princess Anne Road, it seems nearly as many Barry Knight yard signs appear as mailboxes. Knight says he provides one for anyone who asks.

"They're friends, and we naturally think alike," said Knight, 54, who has been married for 25 years and has three children. "I think that's why they want me to go to Richmond."

He's an anomaly in the business world, having been a success as a start up farmer. He bought his first land at age 18 and built it to 500 acres today.

"I know what it is to be poor, and to work hard," he said. "And I know how to make a decision."

Knight is all business when he talks business, and politics. He's not an aw-shucks brand of rural politician, not a back-slapper. He's congenial but speaks in measured tones.

"We know how hard he works," said Steve Smith, a fishing buddy and friend for 25 years and owner of Napa Auto Parts in Pungo. "We think he's going to be good at his next job."

"He's smart, and the No. 1 quality of smartness is, you learn where to go and who to talk to to get information that will help you," said Billy Shirley, a 30-year friend and former Chesapeake Planning Commission member. "Barry isn't one that assumes he knows everything, not at all."

Knight has sold hundreds of acres through the years to the Back Bay National Wildlife Refuge and the Army Corps of Engineers. He opposes raising taxes and extending water and sewer service to rural areas such as Pungo.

"When I go to Richmond," Knight said, "I hope to change Richmond. It's not going to change me."

In a special election, which generally has lower voter turnout, LaCombe dispels a home-field advantage for Knight.

"Outside of Pungo, a lot of the regular people don't know him," said LaCombe, who estimates he's knocked on about 2,000 doors in the past few weeks. "It's about, 'Can you get somebody to come out and believe in you?' "

LaCombe was raised in Atlanta and moved to Virginia Beach around 2002, put his toe in politics on the issue of payday lending, starting a nonprofit to fight for reform.

He's rail-thin and points out that he doesn't dress his age, favoring sharp, pleated slacks and sweaters. But his enthusiasm, which turns heads in a crowded coffee house, is at least half youthful. He's got what he considers a placeholder job - waiter at Applebee's - and has a girlfriend in college.

"It's not an age thing; it's a mentality," LaCombe said. "If we want something different, we have to try something different. Especially with finding new energy, especially with creating new jobs."

Pat Edmonson, a Beach School Board member, said she supports LaCombe because he opposes cuts to school funding.

"There are some people, the circumstances of their life force them to grow up more quickly," she said. "When you talk to him, he has such strong and compelling points of view, you forget he's 24 years old."

"His enthusiasm and his willingness to listen carefully make up for his lack of experience in the political arena," said Ward Scull, a Newport News businessman and co-founder of Virginians Against Payday Loans. "He has the ability to be a statesman."

LaCombe's fervor is fever-pitch when he talks of his opposition to the proposed closing of the Southeastern Virginia Training Center in Chesapeake, about helping nontraditional students, about job-training programs.

"When it comes to standing up, being loud and being heard, I'm not afraid," he said.

Knight's campaign finance report shows $120,817 in contributions as of Dec. 26. LaCombe was late to file, which he attributes to a miscommunication on the deadline. His reports show he raised $8,335 by Dec. 26.

An independent candidate, real estate professional Jeff Dente, said he recently decided to withdraw from the 81st District race.

John Warren, (757) 222-5114, john.warren@pilotonline.com