A Public Advocate for Working Virginians

Mike continued the barnstorm tour of Virginia with a stop to meet with the Mayor and the JMU Dems in Harrisonburg:

  By Jeremy Hunt

Mike Signer (center), a Democrat running for Virginia's lieutenant governor, talks to Mvawia Da'Mes (left) and Mayor Kai Degner at the Old Dominion Coffee Co. Wednesday. Photos by Nikki Fox MORE PHOTOS

HARRISONBURG - Democrat Mike Signer says he's running for lieutenant governor because he believes the Republican Party is getting ready to make a comeback in Virginia.

"I think they're back; they're angry," he said during a campaign stump Wednesday at Old Dominion Coffee Co. in downtown Harrisonburg. "Virginia's at a crossroads."

Signer, speaking to local Democrats, laid out his plans if elected to the post, including focusing on job creation and environmentally friendly technology.

He is the fourth Democrat to throw his hat in the ring to contend for his party's nomination. The winner will face either incumbent Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling or his challenger for the Republican nomination, Patrick Muldoon. The GOP's nominee will be decided in a May caucus.

Officially launching his campaign Monday, Signer will face Jon Bowerbank, Pat Edmonson and Jody Wagner in the June Democratic primary.

Before coming to Harrisonburg Wednesday, Signer's campaign announced in Roanoke that he is endorsed by Dave "Mudcat" Saunders, a strategist for the Democratic Party.

Saunders has been credited with helping to win rural votes for U.S. Sen. Jim Webb in his successful campaign to unseat incumbent Republican George Allen.

Signer has worked as a Democrat strategist in campaigns around the state, including U.S. Rep. Tom Perriello's successful bid over Republican incumbent Virgil Goode.

Signer was also a deputy counselor to then-Gov. Mark Warner.

His No. 1 priority is job creation, particularly with "green technology."

Signer has a plan he says will create 50,000 new jobs by 2011, the majority of which focus on infrastructure and environmentally friendly projects.

"Wind technology has outpaced coal on the number of jobs created," he said.

David McKinney, president of the James Madison University College Democrats, declined to say which candidate he would support in the primary.

But McKinney did say he was impressed with Signer's related goals for job creation and sustainability.

"These are the directions Virginia needs to be going in," he said.

Yesterday was another wild ride in our Barnstorm Tour across the Commonwealth. We began in Richmond and hit Ukrop's for coffee and breakfast before hitting the road. We arrived in Roanoke around 1 pm, where we held a press conference to announce my endorsement by Dave "Mudcat" Saunders, senior strategist on Mark Warner's 2001 gubernatorial campaign and one of Virginia's great Democratic organizers. We finished our visit to the Star City with a hearty lunch at Awful Arthur's - great fried oysters.

Next stop - Harrisonburg! We arrived at Old Dominion Coffee Shop at 6 for a spectacular event, with Mayor Kai Degner, Democratic Chair Alan Finks, former delegate candidate Lowell Fulk, and dozens of media, activists, and students in attendance. There was great energy and enthusiasm, and a good number of volunteers signed up. We had dinner in Harrisonburg at Cully's and RON'd in Lexington. Next stop: Martinsville... Here we come.

Mike stopped by Richmond on his week-long barnstorm of Virginia.  First he visited the State Capitol Building:

While on the Capitol grounds, Mike took a moment to honor those who fought for social justice and civil rights in Virginia:

Mike stopped in at Fred's Restaurant in Franklin to get a cup of $.99 coffee and a delicious lunch.

On the road to the next stop, Mike reflects on the time he spent in the Franklin area working on the Jerry Flowers campaign back in 2000:

Today was a really exciting second day of our Barnstorm Tour. We woke up early in Norfolk and headed to Norfolk State University, where we met with a group of professors, administrators, and students to discuss education. We then were given a tour of the campus, where we got to see the impressive new student union building but also heard unsettling stories about class sizes doubling under budget pressures. Thank you to Whitney, Cornelius and Stephanie for the tour. Spartan pride!

From Norfolk State, we headed for lunch in Franklin with activists at the famous Fred's, where I devoured the turkey and (real!) mashed potatoes, and drank a little too much sweet tea. I also interviewed with the Tidewater News there and filmed a new Coffee Break under Fred's "99 cent coffee" sign. I lived in Franklin for a short time in 2000 when I was field director of Jerry Flowers' state senate race so it was good to be back.

Next stop on the barnstorm tour was Petersburg. We were running a little late after stopping for lemon chess pie in Franklin but still got in some quality time with the Progress-Index at Java Mio. From there, we hit the capitol in Richmond, where we had a press conference with environmental activists and later visited the extraordinary Civil Rights Memorial (thank you, Lisa Collis, for the work you did on this).

Final stop was Baja Bean in Richmond, where we had a meet and greet with enthusiastic supporters, including several educators. Thank you for the tough and great ideas on education. Now it’s time for uploading videos and sleep! Roanoke... Here we come - the barnstorm continues tomorrow.

Mike officially kicked off the campaign from headquarters in Arlington today, where he announced that the campaign raised $250,000 from over 800 donors in the first quarter.  But perhaps most impressively, Mike raised money from over 600 donors online, the most of any candidate.

He also released the Playbook to Defeat Bill Bolling and the schedule for the Barnstorm Tour of Virginia, which includes over 20 campaign stops from Courthouse to Big Stone Gap to the Newport News Shipyard.  Mike will be posting Updates from the Trail each day, so be sure to bookmark the Blog and check in frequently!

The following is a list of Mike's upcoming events during his week-long barnstorm across Virginia.  For a full schedule of events, please see the Launch page.

April 11

Meet n Greet with Bristol Democrats: Mike will meet with Democrats at Java J's

           When: 8:00 AM

           Where: Java J's

                         501 State St

                         Bristol, VA

Fire Hall Breakfast: Mike will meet with and tour the Bristol Fire Department

         When: 9:00 AM

         Where:  Bristol Fire Hall

                        211 Lee St

                        Bristol, VA

Luncheon with Campbell County Democrats: Mike will meet with press and Campbell/Lynchburg area Democrats

            When: 12:00 PM

            Where: Colonial Motel and Restaurant

                          8790 Wards Rd

                          Rustburg, VA

5th Congressional District Dinner Honoring Congressman Tom Perriello:  Mike will meet with 5th District Democrats and deliver remarks

            When: 6:00PM

            Where: James River Conference Center

                          400 Court Street

                          Lynchburg, VA

 ***Schedule Subject to Change***