Bouchard, Stolle in a rematch for 83rd House District

VIRGINIA BEACH

It's rematch time. Freshman Del. Joe Bouchard, a Democrat, and Republican Chris Stolle are facing off again in the 83rd House District.

In 2007, Bouchard won by fewer than 150 votes when the two political neophytes battled in an expensive and negative race to fill the seat vacated by longtime delegate Leo Wardrup.

This time, both candidates are looking for any edge to tip the balance in the district covering northwest Virginia Beach.

Bouchard, 55, hopes the Democratic surge in Virginia will propel him. Stolle, 52, hopes sharing the ballot with a Republican gubernatorial candidate from Virginia Beach, Bob McDonnell, will boost his chances. Stolle is the brother of state Sen. Kenneth Stolle, who is running for sheriff in Virginia Beach.

Both men tout their professional backgrounds. Bouchard is the former commander at Norfolk Naval Station and is now director of government sales for Cox Communications.

Stolle is an obstetrician/gynecologist who built a business around nighttime baby deliveries. He's also the vice president of medical affairs at Riverside Regional Medical Center in Newport News.

Bouchard, a policy wonk who relishes details, said the key to solving the region's transportation mess is developing a "decision-making framework" to prioritize projects, which he said would help attract state and federal funding.

"You put all that in place first," he said. "Our planning has been weak for a long time. There has been no strategy."

For example, he suggested defining a "tourism corridor" on Interstate 64 and a "freight corridor" on U.S. 460 that would use tolls to encourage division of cars and trucks. Cars would pay more to use U.S. 460 and trucks would pay more to use I-64.

He said a combination of tolls and tapping the general fund could pay for road improvements.

Stolle said he favors taxing future port earnings to pay for transportation projects.

"Just like the ports have to pay their electricity bill, there should be a fee for ports to transport goods in and out of the state," he said.

He said his top priority would be forming a public-private partnership to build a new U.S. 460 toll road as a major evacuation route for the region.

Stolle said he wouldn't support raising the gas tax to pay for road improvements.

"Any tax increase when the economy is in such poor shape just hurts job creation and the average person on the street," he said.

Both candidates have attracted significant campaign contributions.

In the past month, Stolle has received more than $230,000 from the Republican State Leadership Committee, a Washington-based political organization.

Democratic Party organizations have given Bouchard more than $50,000.

Aaron Applegate, (757) 222-5122, aaron.applegate@pilotonline.com