Virginia Governor's Race 2017: Confederate Monument Issue Looms

RICHMOND, VA — More than two months after the clashes between white nationalists and counter-protesters played a role in the deaths of three people in Charlottesville and sparked a renewed debate about Confederate monuments, if only because the violence ostensibly was over the possible removal of a statue of Confederate general Robert E. Lee, two things remain fairly clear.

One, the issue isn't going away. Two, it likely will play some sort of role in next month's Virginia gubernatorial election between Ed Gillespie (R) and Ralph Northam (D). To what extent, however, is less clear. Two months ago, though, in the immediate aftermath of the violence, Northam raised eyebrows on both sides when he abruptly declared his support for removing all of them.

Inasmuch that Virginia has around 200 such structures, more than any other state, well, consider this headline over a piece by Richmond Times-Dispatch political columnist Jeff Schapiro: "Northam's new stance on statues a monumental blunder?"

In the article, Schaprio reports that some Northam allies "privately express disappointment that, with Confederate monuments, the nominee is falling back on a winning, albeit cynical, formula for Democrats: pumping up the eastern urban-suburban vote and largely ignoring the Republican-friendly countryside."

Gillespie's campaign pounced on the reversal, suggesting in TV ads and flyers that Northam's previous stance that the issue is best left to local governments was a sham all along. But following the lead of Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe, who also briefly expressed sentiments post-Charlottesville that the monuments should be removed before changing tone, Northam quickly said the cost to remove statues would be money better spent on other state needs.

The first televised debate and second overall held Sept. 19 in Northern Virginia didn't totally revive the topic as a wedge issue. Moderator Chuck Todd of NBC News pointed out that the majority of viewers wanted the candidates' answer to the question "Keep them or remove them" answered more than any other.

Gillespie's take: "My view is that the statues should remain and we should place them in historical context so people can learn. We don’t have to glorify the objects of the statues, we can educate about them."

And Northam: "Personally I would think that the statues would be better placed in museums with historical context, but I am leaving that up to the localities."

Afterward, Yahoo! senior political correspondent Jon Ward reported that he was told by a senior Democratic operative he was surprised Gillespie didn’t press the issue: " 'He pulled his punches,' (the operative) told me, arguing that it showed Gillespie had moral qualms about being a cheerleader for Confederate statues."

Corey Stewart had no such qualms about being just that during the GOP primary, and the controversial chairman of the Prince William County Board of Supervisors lost by a razor-thin margin. As noted University of Virginia political analyst Larry Sabato told Ward: "[Gillespie] almost lost the primary to a far-right guy who was campaigning as a borderline racist. I mean [Stewart’s] from Minnesota, good God. I’ve known him for years. He’d say anything to get in office."

That fact that he almost did shows up in the tone of Gillespie's ads, which these days focus more on illegal immigration but also prominently include the monument issue. Outside Virginia, however, numerous states across the county recently have been removing Confederate statues. New York magazine has a running list of states that have removed or re-located them.

Not only that, but in late August, Confederate general Stonewall Jackson's great-great grandsons, both of whom grew up in Richmond, penned a letter expressing a desire for all the monuments on the city's iconic Monument Avenue be removed.

But in this state, things are different and always have been. Northam — who has a small lead in most polls — graduated from Virginia Military Institute, which has a big place in Civil War history. Ten VMI cadets died in the Battle of New Market. In this election, the following, as told to Schapiro, may well come to loom large:

"I’m getting an email from one of my VMI classmates who said that he was a Northam supporter — until now," said Charles Bryan, a 1969 graduate and Southern historian who was president of the Virginia Historical Society. "He said, 'I can’t do this. I just may not vote at all.' "

(Click here from complete voter information from the Virginia Department of Elections.)

Photo of Stonewall Jackson likeness on Monument Avenue in Richmond: Steve Helber, Associated Press