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| Black state lawmaker shares deep frustrations with her own party | |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| RICHMOND — The Democratic state senator who stunned Gov. Terry McAuliffe and other allies this week by briefly siding with Republicans in a judicial battle said she rebelled because leaders of her own party have not taken the concerns of black lawmakers seriously. | RICHMOND — The Democratic state senator who stunned Gov. Terry McAuliffe and other allies this week by briefly siding with Republicans in a judicial battle said she rebelled because leaders of her own party have not taken the concerns of black lawmakers seriously. |
| Sen. L. Louise Lucas (Portsmouth) said her short-lived alliance with the GOP had little to do with who sits on the judiciary. | Sen. L. Louise Lucas (Portsmouth) said her short-lived alliance with the GOP had little to do with who sits on the judiciary. |
| Instead, she said, her move was the culmination of long-simmering grievances with fellow Senate Democrats, who she said have passed over black senators for key committee assignments, taken their votes for granted and failed to help them in partisan and personal battles with Republicans. | Instead, she said, her move was the culmination of long-simmering grievances with fellow Senate Democrats, who she said have passed over black senators for key committee assignments, taken their votes for granted and failed to help them in partisan and personal battles with Republicans. |
| “This has been going on for five years, and I’m getting tired of being treated like I’m invisible and that what we, the members of the black caucus, think and feel and say doesn’t matter,” Lucas said in an emotional hour-long interview with The Washington Post and the Virginian-Pilot. “It’s always just, ‘You sit there and you be good and just vote with us and we’ll take care of you.’ Well, I didn’t get elected to do that.” | “This has been going on for five years, and I’m getting tired of being treated like I’m invisible and that what we, the members of the black caucus, think and feel and say doesn’t matter,” Lucas said in an emotional hour-long interview with The Washington Post and the Virginian-Pilot. “It’s always just, ‘You sit there and you be good and just vote with us and we’ll take care of you.’ Well, I didn’t get elected to do that.” |
| [Va. Democrat bolts party amid court fight, but quickly reneges] | [Va. Democrat bolts party amid court fight, but quickly reneges] |
| Senate Minority Leader Richard L. Saslaw (D-Fairfax) said he has pushed hard for Lucas and other members of the black caucus, while juggling all of his responsibilities as the Democratic legislative leader. | |
| “It’s no state secret, I can be a little insensitive from time to time,” said Saslaw. “I do have a lot of things going on. Sometimes people feel ignored. ... [But] I have an impeccable civil rights voting record. I’ve done a lot of things behind the scenes, prevented a lot of bad things from happening. Sometimes people don’t see that.” | “It’s no state secret, I can be a little insensitive from time to time,” said Saslaw. “I do have a lot of things going on. Sometimes people feel ignored. ... [But] I have an impeccable civil rights voting record. I’ve done a lot of things behind the scenes, prevented a lot of bad things from happening. Sometimes people don’t see that.” |
| Lucas’s brief break with the Democrats appears to have had no impact on the long-running drama over which judge should fill a vacancy on the state Supreme Court, which is back to a stalemate. But the episode has laid bare a painful racial rift within the Democratic caucus. The rift comes at a particularly awkward time for McAuliffe, just a few weeks before Virginia’s March 1 presidential primary, as the governor tries to persuade the same minority-heavy coalition that twice played a key role in sending Barack Obama to the White House to back his close friend, Hillary Clinton. | |
| But there was some upside for McAuliffe, too. Lucas credited him for taking her complaints against fellow Democrats seriously and summoning party leaders to his office Wednesday in an attempt to work them out. He also managed to talk Lucas out of helping the GOP replace his pick for the high court, heading off what would have been a humiliating loss. | But there was some upside for McAuliffe, too. Lucas credited him for taking her complaints against fellow Democrats seriously and summoning party leaders to his office Wednesday in an attempt to work them out. He also managed to talk Lucas out of helping the GOP replace his pick for the high court, heading off what would have been a humiliating loss. |
| In the interview, Lucas said Saslaw has not done enough to resolve a long-running battle she has had with Senate Majority Leader Thomas K. Norment (R-James City). In explaining the underlying beef with Norment, Lucas described a profane verbal clash that took place in a private lounge just off the ornate Senate floor. She also recalled a fight that she said nearly turned physical, in another Senate anteroom, between herself and another female Democratic senator. | In the interview, Lucas said Saslaw has not done enough to resolve a long-running battle she has had with Senate Majority Leader Thomas K. Norment (R-James City). In explaining the underlying beef with Norment, Lucas described a profane verbal clash that took place in a private lounge just off the ornate Senate floor. She also recalled a fight that she said nearly turned physical, in another Senate anteroom, between herself and another female Democratic senator. |
| Both accounts present a sharp break with the seemingly genteel operations of Richmond’s upper chamber, where senators publicly observe strict protocol even in the midst of sharply partisan debates. | Both accounts present a sharp break with the seemingly genteel operations of Richmond’s upper chamber, where senators publicly observe strict protocol even in the midst of sharply partisan debates. |
| Norment, in particular, usually stands as a symbol of that gentility, enforcing arcane rules, lacing speeches with old-fashioned flourishes, and decking out his slight frame in formal three-piece suits. Lucas’s description puts him in the middle of a verbal street fight — one that erupted three years ago when she asked Norment why he had not wanted her to serve on a panel studying Hampton Roads transportation, a top concern in her traffic-choked district. | |
| “Tommy said, ‘The reason why I don’t want to vote for you is because you ain’t gonna do s---,’ ” Lucas said. “And I said, ‘Just watch my black ass.’ ... And he says, ‘I don’t want to watch your black ass.’ And I said, ‘Well you then keep your little narrow white ass, little J.C. Penney, little-boys-department wearing suits out of my [expletive] face.’ ” | |
| Through a spokesman, Norment said Lucas’s account was “a prevarication.” He also said that he put himself on the transportation panel, instead of Lucas, because “it did not have a senator representing the Peninsula,” a part of the state that he serves. | Through a spokesman, Norment said Lucas’s account was “a prevarication.” He also said that he put himself on the transportation panel, instead of Lucas, because “it did not have a senator representing the Peninsula,” a part of the state that he serves. |
| Lucas said the exchange three years ago prompted several other people in the room to erupt into laughter. But when Saslaw walked in and she called him over, he chose not to get drawn into the argument. | Lucas said the exchange three years ago prompted several other people in the room to erupt into laughter. But when Saslaw walked in and she called him over, he chose not to get drawn into the argument. |
| “He makes a bee-line out,” she recalled. | “He makes a bee-line out,” she recalled. |
| While Lucas said her relationship with Norment has not improved, what upsets her most is that she thinks Saslaw has done little to mediate. She described Saslaw’s relationship with Norment as “cozy, cozy.” | While Lucas said her relationship with Norment has not improved, what upsets her most is that she thinks Saslaw has done little to mediate. She described Saslaw’s relationship with Norment as “cozy, cozy.” |
| Lucas’s frustration with Saslaw, and her feeling that she is often cut out of the action, led her to briefly strike the judicial deal this week — ironically, with Norment playing a key role. | Lucas’s frustration with Saslaw, and her feeling that she is often cut out of the action, led her to briefly strike the judicial deal this week — ironically, with Norment playing a key role. |
| Rumors were flying on Tuesday that another Democrat was going to agree to back the GOP’s pick for the Supreme Court, Appeals Court Judge Rossie Alston, in exchange for getting to elevate a judge from their district to Alston’s slot. | Rumors were flying on Tuesday that another Democrat was going to agree to back the GOP’s pick for the Supreme Court, Appeals Court Judge Rossie Alston, in exchange for getting to elevate a judge from their district to Alston’s slot. |
| Lucas wondered why she never seemed to get chances to make deals like that. After talking with Norment, she offered her vote to the GOP, as long as a judge she supported from Portsmouth would get to replace Alston. | Lucas wondered why she never seemed to get chances to make deals like that. After talking with Norment, she offered her vote to the GOP, as long as a judge she supported from Portsmouth would get to replace Alston. |
| As news of the deal with Lucas spread, the Democrats bore down. Lucas was summoned to meet with McAuliffe Tuesday afternoon. Soon afterward she issued a statement saying the judge she had wanted to elevate was not interested in a promotion. She said she no longer planned to side with the GOP. | As news of the deal with Lucas spread, the Democrats bore down. Lucas was summoned to meet with McAuliffe Tuesday afternoon. Soon afterward she issued a statement saying the judge she had wanted to elevate was not interested in a promotion. She said she no longer planned to side with the GOP. |
| “I said [to Saslaw], ‘If I’ve got to work my own deals because I can’t get you to resolve the differences between us ...,’ ” she recalled in the interview, her voice trailing off and tears coming to her eyes. “But it was the wrong time, wasn’t it? I picked the wrong thing.” | |
| Lucas said she thinks fellow Democrats have taken her vote for granted for years. She described nearly coming to blows years ago with Sen. Janet Howell after the Fairfax Democrat chastised her for not supporting a different judicial nominee. | |
| “She said, ‘Where were you when I needed your vote?’ ” Lucas recalled. “And I said, ‘When did I become your [expletive] servant?’ ” | |
| The argument, which began on the floor of the chamber, grew so loud that the Senate clerk shooed them into a back room, Lucas said. | The argument, which began on the floor of the chamber, grew so loud that the Senate clerk shooed them into a back room, Lucas said. |
| “I start taking my coat off because it was about to be on,” Lucas said. She said the clerk broke up the fight. | “I start taking my coat off because it was about to be on,” Lucas said. She said the clerk broke up the fight. |
| Howell did not respond to a request for comment about the incident. On Wednesday morning, McAuliffe brought Howell, Saslaw and caucus chairman Sen. A. Donald McEachin (D-Henrico) to his office to meet with Lucas and Sen. Mamie E. Locke (D-Hampton), another member of the black caucus who shares Lucas’s concerns. | Howell did not respond to a request for comment about the incident. On Wednesday morning, McAuliffe brought Howell, Saslaw and caucus chairman Sen. A. Donald McEachin (D-Henrico) to his office to meet with Lucas and Sen. Mamie E. Locke (D-Hampton), another member of the black caucus who shares Lucas’s concerns. |
| In the interview, Lucas described a succession of perceived slights that have built up over the years. She noted that she and Howell first won election on the same day, but Howell, who is white, landed a seat on the prestigious finance committee 16 years ahead of her. Howell also has served as a budget negotiator in the crucial deal-making that happens when the House and Senate try to reconcile their spending plans. Lucas said she has sought but never been given that opportunity. | In the interview, Lucas described a succession of perceived slights that have built up over the years. She noted that she and Howell first won election on the same day, but Howell, who is white, landed a seat on the prestigious finance committee 16 years ahead of her. Howell also has served as a budget negotiator in the crucial deal-making that happens when the House and Senate try to reconcile their spending plans. Lucas said she has sought but never been given that opportunity. |
| She said she has complained over the years not just to Saslaw but to McEachin, who in addition to chairing the Democratic caucus is also a member of the black caucus. But she put the blame for her frustration squarely on Saslaw. She said McEachin has listened, even traveling to Portsmouth at times to hear her out. But working through Saslaw, she said, McEachin has been unable to help. | |
| Through an aide, McEachin said he would not comment on internal caucus matters. | Through an aide, McEachin said he would not comment on internal caucus matters. |
| Saslaw defended himself in two brief phone interviews with The Post, saying he had tried to help Lucas advance in a chamber where party control has changed back and forth several times in recent years. | Saslaw defended himself in two brief phone interviews with The Post, saying he had tried to help Lucas advance in a chamber where party control has changed back and forth several times in recent years. |
| “The only time we’ve had committee assignments since I’ve been in leadership was in January 2008, and she got put on Finance then,” he said. “I made things happen for her.” | “The only time we’ve had committee assignments since I’ve been in leadership was in January 2008, and she got put on Finance then,” he said. “I made things happen for her.” |
| Sen. Barbara A. Favola (D-Arlington) defended Saslaw’s leadership as tenacious, fair and perhaps underappreciated, because so much of what he pulls off is done behind the scenes. | Sen. Barbara A. Favola (D-Arlington) defended Saslaw’s leadership as tenacious, fair and perhaps underappreciated, because so much of what he pulls off is done behind the scenes. |
| “Dick is a very decent and fair leader,” she said. “He has a lot of stuff to deal with. He’s got personalities. He’s got people’s personal agendas — some of them good, some of them bad. He’s got leadership issues. He’s got the governor to deal with. And he manages it all with grace and humor, and his values are in the right place. . . . You don’t want to be in a foxhole with anybody else but Dick Saslaw.” |