FAIRFAX, Va. ― In the first Virginia Democratic gubernatorial primary debate on Saturday evening, Virginia Lt. Gov. Ralph Northam declined to attack former Rep. Tom Perriello for a controversial anti-abortion vote Perriello made in Congress.
Instead, both candidates emphasized their staunch support for abortion rights, promising to push back against restrictions proposed by the Republican-controlled Virginia legislature.
“I strongly support a woman’s right to choose. I have long supported Roe v. Wade and believe that it’s not enough just to ensure that that right exists on paper, but that there is meaningful and affordable access to that right,” Perriello said.
As a member of Congress in 2009, Perriello voted for the Stupak amendment, which would have barred federal funding from the Affordable Care Act from going toward insurance plans that cover abortions. He has since expressed “regret” for the vote, claiming he was trying to keep a promise to his constituents in a conservative district.
Northam didn’t bring up Perriello’s vote on Saturday, despite making it an issue on the campaign trail. Instead, he used the debate to tout his advocacy for abortion rights, including fighting a trans-vaginal ultrasound bill as a state senator in 2012.
“There is no excuse that a group of legislators ― by the way, most of them are men ― should be telling women what they should and shouldn’t be doing with their bodies. That needs to stop in Virginia,” Northam said.
David Turner, a spokesman for Northam’s campaign, said Northam may still bring up Perriello’s voting record in the remaining four debates.
“If Tom Perriello is going to minimize Ralph Northam’s role in blocking trans-vaginal ultrasound, we’re going to discuss his role in voting for a bill that Planned Parenthood said at the time was tantamount to banning abortion coverage,” Turner said.
Perriello has criticized Northam for voting twice for former President George W. Bush, a staunch foe of abortion rights who appointed two opponents of Roe v. Wade to the Supreme Court. Northam, a pediatric neurologist from Norfolk, claims he was not attentive to politics at the time and would have voted differently knowing what he knows now.
The two contenders’ strong stance on abortion rights comes as the Democratic Party struggles over whether to tolerate deviations from its pro-choice platform.
Last week, reproductive rights activists, led by NARAL Pro-Choice America, criticized the Democratic National Committee and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) for embracing Heath Mello, a mayoral candidate in Omaha, Nebraska, who backed abortion restrictions as a state lawmaker. (Mello has since declared that he would protect reproductive rights as mayor.)
DNC Chair Tom Perez responded to the uproar with a statement publicly disagreeing with Mello and reaffirming the party’s strong commitment to abortion rights.
Perriello’s vote for the Stupak amendment has so far done little to undermine his status as the progressive favorite in the race. As a young congressman, he developed a reputation for supporting the agenda of then-President Barack Obama, despite the growing contempt for the administration in his district. Perriello, now 42, went on to head the Center for American Progress action fund and serve as a State Department special envoy to the Great Lakes region of Africa.
Northam, 57, had all but locked up the Democratic nomination until the election of President Donald Trump inspired Perriello to jump in the race in January. The lieutenant governor enjoys the support of almost all of the Virginia Democratic establishment, including Gov. Terry McAuliffe and Sens. Mark Warner and Tim Kaine.
Perriello has also drawn national attention to the race, casting himself as the candidate best equipped to lead a state-level resistance to Trump’s policies. With hardline progressive positions like blanket opposition to the construction of oil and gas pipelines, he has attracted the support of high-profile progressives like Sanders and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.).
The primary election will occur on June 13. The most recent polling shows Perriello with a small lead.
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