Tuesday, November 06, 2007

Virginia state Senate candidate Chap Petersen Friday accused his opponent Jeannemarie Devolites Davis of crossing the line by including his personal information in an attack ad.

Petersen held a news conference Friday in front of the Republican incumbent's campaign office to address a piece of negative mail sent out this week by Devolites Davis, the wife of Rep. Tom Davis.

The mail raises questions about Petersen's prior work for a lobbying law firm and whether he properly disclosed clients' names on a public form.

Circled in red on the mail is part of a public document that lists Petersen's home phone number and Fairfax City address.

The names of the former state delegate's wife and two young daughters are also listed.

Petersen said a strange, jarring phone call to his home answered by his wife alerted him to the disclosure. He said his wife was so unnerved by that call and others that she refused to answer the phone and spent the day at her parents'.

"The thing that really bothers me is it was part of an attack ad," Petersen said. "This ad is meant to incite anger at me, and then you have my daughters' names circled and my home phone number circled and my home address circled. The net effect is to get somebody angry at me and have them contact me."

Jeannemarie Devolites Davis yesterday lost her bid for re-election to the Virginia Senate, dealing Republicans a blow in a key Northern Virginia district.

John Chapman "Chap" Petersen, a Democrat, defeated Mrs. Davis in the 34th Senate District in central Fairfax.

"This is one of those moments you dream of all your life," Mr. Petersen told the crowd last night at his postelection gathering at the Hilton McLean Tysons Corner.

"When I was young and stupid, I thought I would put Fairfax on the map, but the reverse happened. The people of Fairfax City put me on the map," he said.

With 39 of 47 precincts reporting, Mr. Petersen had 20,407 votes, or 56 percent, compared with 16,183 votes, or 44 percent, for Mrs. Davis, according to unofficial results from the Virginia State Board of Elections.

Mrs. Davis conceded the race at about 10:30 p.m.