Epic Mr. Deeds Win

The big national race in 2009 is for the Virginia Governor's mansion to succeed Tim Kaine, and Dems held their primary yesterday. Former Clinton staffer Terry McAuliffe had the money and the backing of the D.C. machine...but he didn't have the votes as Creigh Deeds won the primary going away.

R. Creigh Deeds, a longtime state legislator from rural Bath County, won a stunning come-from-behind victory in the Democratic primary for Virginia governor last night, overwhelming a pair of better-funded and better-positioned opponents.

Deeds beat Brian Moran and Terry McAuliffe in every region of the state, including vote-rich Northern Virginia, despite a pro-gun stance and relatively conservative positions that are out of line with many of the area's voters. His victory was so dominant that he captured 10 of the state's 11 congressional districts, including the one held by Moran's brother, U.S. Rep. James P. Moran Jr.

All three campaigns and state political experts had agreed that Deeds was coming on strong in the final days of the race, but no one expected him -- or the other candidates -- to come close to winning the 50 percent of the vote that he captured. In an e-mail sent to supporters less than two hours before polls closed, McAuliffe's campaign predicted that "this thing could come down to the wire." McAuliffe came in second, with 26 percent of the vote, followed by Brian Moran with 24 percent.

Deeds, 51, will face Republican Robert F. McDonnell in a general election battle that amounts to a rematch of the race for attorney general four years ago, which McDonnell barely won after a late surge by Deeds.

This year, Deeds surged when he needed to, airing statewide TV ads in the final weeks of the race and capitalizing on an endorsement from this newspaper that quickly became a theme of his campaign in the Washington suburbs. As soon as it came out, he agreed to make a joint appearance with the other candidates in front of hundreds of business leaders, which he had previously turned down. He then added numerous other events in Northern Virginia and launched a week-long television blitz in the region.

Deeds, already known by Virginians in all corners of the state after his 2005 bid, began receiving the support of many undecided voters who were attracted to his pledge to bridge regional and partisan divides and invest in road and transit improvements.

Deeds has a very good chance to win the whole thing in November, and either way, seeing Terry McAuliffe get the boot like that shows there's hope yet. The last thing we needed was another Serious Beltway Centrist running a state, Dem or not.

Deeds came out of nowhere to seal this thing with just weeks to go.

EPIC WIN.