For the Virginia House and Senate

Three types of politicians tend to dominate the electoral landscape: those who pander, those who are genuine but ill-prepared, and those who know the issues and seek pragmatic solutions.

Across the country, as in Virginia, there is no dearth of candidates who fall into the first two categories. And too often, too many candidates who would otherwise earn a rare spot in the third succumb to the temptation of telling an audience what it wants to hear.

There is a shortage of those willing to negotiate, to compromise, to work in good faith toward solving problems and putting the needs of the public before the desires of a political party.

Voters in Virginia's 6th Senate District - on the Eastern Shore and in Norfolk - are fortunate to have such a candidate on the Nov. 8 ballot. They would be well served by sending him back to Richmond.

Sen. Ralph Northam has distinguished himself in the General Assembly as a hard-working, constituent-oriented representative. Since his election in 2007, he has proven adept at working with fellow Democrats and with Republicans to pass sensible legislation, including the ban on smoking in restaurants and guidelines for protecting student-athletes from the effects of repeated concussions.

He helped Gov. Bob McDonnell secure approval of a state budget that cut billions of dollars without raising taxes, while still protecting the state's investment in assets vital to the 6th District, including Old Dominion University, Eastern Virginia Medical School and Children's Hospital of The King's Daughters, where he is a pediatric neurologist.

He helped found a bipartisan group, the Commonwealth Caucus, composed of two Democrats and two Republicans, that promises to analyze proposals on their merits, rather than on which party is pushing them. Its members played a pivotal role in filling long-standing judicial vacancies stalled by a petty political feud.

Northam's opponent, Republican Ben Loyola, is making his first run for state office, but he's campaigning as if he's still running for the congressional seat that he sought - and lost to U.S. Rep. Scott Rigell - last year.

Loyola has spent his campaign fixated on federal issues, showing shallow understanding of state issues. During his interview with the Editorial Board, he spoke of a growing federal debt, the federal Solyndra debacle, burdensome federal regulations and the constitutionality of the federal health care reform law. At a forum at ODU, he cited "over-unionization" as an obstacle to raising employment in the region, a bizarre claim given that Virginia is a right-to-work state.

Loyola has demonstrated neither a grasp of the issues and challenges facing Virginians, nor an understanding of the role of a state senator. Those failures are brought into sharp relief when compared to his opponent.

Northam deserves another term.

In the 2nd Senate District, two-term Democratic Sen. Mamie Locke faces Republican Thomas Harmon IV. The Hampton-based district includes parts of Portsmouth and Suffolk. The choice is clear.

Harmon, who served 28 years with the federal agency that became AmeriCorps and other groups, stresses Locke's zero ranking from the conservative Family Foundation and faults her for not helping create jobs in her district.

But Locke, a Hampton University dean and former Hampton mayor, has been a valuable and tireless advocate for education, job training and public safety. She was a leader in the ban on smoking in restaurants. And she's waged a hard fight against payday and car-title lenders who prey on the poor. She's earned another term.

House of Delegates

In House District 21, which encompasses southwestern Virginia Beach and Greenbrier East in Chesapeake, Republican Del. Ron Villanueva should be re-elected.

Villanueva, a former Beach City Council member first elected to the House in 2009, serves on the finance and transportation committees. He says a stronger working relationship with delegates from Richmond and Northern Virginia will lead to a bigger share of transportation money for Hampton Roads. He promises to fight to keep Virginia Beach's water supply safe but stopped short of saying he would maintain a ban on uranium mining; he'll wait to see what the National Academy of Sciences reports in December.

He says the state must invest in rail, and he supports a proposed constitutional amendment on eminent domain.

Democrat Adrianne Bennett, a Virginia Beach attorney, said she hasn't decided whether to support that proposed amendment. She has struggled to articulate positions on other state issues, including where the state could cut its budget. "You might have to get there to really understand it," she said.

Villanueva is already there, has solidified relationships with the governor and House leaders and has a better grasp of what's doable in Richmond.

Voters should send him back to Richmond.

In the 64th House District, longtime Democratic Del. Bill Barlow is again the clear choice for voters in Suffolk and Isle of Wight, Surry and Prince George counties who want a representative versed in state affairs and focused on their interests instead of his party's.

His opponent, Republican Rick Morris, refused to meet with the Editorial Board, and he declined to specify after a forum in Wakefield which state departments he believed could do with less funding in a tough budget year.

Editorials represent the consensus of the editorial board, which is independent of the newsroom: Maurice A. Jones, publisher; Donald Luzzatto, editorial page editor; Candy Hatcher, Daryl Lease, Shawn Day and Michelle Washington, editorial writers.