Tom Perriello

2008

Perriello won a narrow (50.1% to 49.9%[11]) victory over Republican six-term incumbent Virgil H. Goode Jr., a longtime figure in Virginia politics who had previously represented a large portion of the district in the Senate of Virginia.[12][13] Perriello had trailed Goode in the polls by 30 percent only three months before the election. Politico reported that Goode's campaign was impaired by remarks by Goode that were interpreted as anti-Muslim and by a flap over Goode's tenuous connection to a gay-themed movie.[12][14]

The traditionally Democratic urban areas of the district gave Perriello significant margins over Goode. While Goode won 13 of the 20 county-level jurisdictions in the district, Perriello won all but one independent city, Bedford, which went for Goode by only 16 votes. Ultimately, Perriello prevailed largely on the strength of a more than 25,000 vote margin in Charlottesville and surrounding Albemarle County. Perriello's performance showed the most dramatic improvements over past Democratic voting in the more conservative areas of the district hardest hit by decades of job loss and economic slowdown. As a presidential candidate, Barack Obama also improved on past Democratic performance, but he ultimately lost this district by around 7,500 votes (2.5 percentage points). For example, Perriello significantly outperformed Obama in the district's strongly conservative southwestern portion. Ironically, this was Goode's base; he had represented much of the district's southern portion for 35 years at the state and federal level. Perriello may also have been helped by coattails from atop the ticket, as Mark Warner won the district in a landslide with 65 percent of the vote.[15]

2010

Perriello lost to Republican nominee State Senator Robert Hurt in a race between the two and Independent candidate Jeffrey Clark. During the race, Perriello was noted for touting Democratic achievements during his two years in office rather than running from them. In recognition of his support for gun rights, Perriello received the endorsement of the NRA Political Victory Fund.[16] He also received the endorsement of the Veterans of Foreign Wars in the race in recognition of his "strong support for veterans, national security and defense, and military personnel issues."[17]

His reelection campaign was targeted by the national Democratic party, as the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee sent financial resources, ads, and staff to the district in an effort to protect a seat that Perriello had won for the Democrats by a razor-thin 727 vote margin in 2008.[18] As early as two weeks after being elected in 2008, Perriello was targeted for defeat by national Republicans and by outside groups like the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the Koch brothers' funded Americans for Prosperity.[19] His effort to maintain his seat was marked by full days of campaigning, including one period called "24 hours of Tom" in which the congressman held one or two events every hour for twenty four hours in the final weeks of the election.[20]

Ultimately, Perriello lost by 3.9 percent, which was considered a surprisingly close result in the Republican-leaning district. As a point of comparison, Glenn Nye, another freshman Democrat in the similarly Republican-leaning Virginia's 2nd, lost by 11 points to his Republican challenger in the same cycle.[21] The two congressmen took dramatically different approaches to campaigning, with Perriello embracing his short congressional record that included votes for progressive legislation like the Affordable Care Act, and Nye attempting to distance himself from his party.

Perriello ran for Virginia's 5th congressional district in the United States House of Representatives in 2008. He narrowly defeated six-term Republican incumbent Virgil H. Goode Jr. by 727 votes out of over 317,000 cast. At the time he served, the district included much of Southside Virginia and stretched north to Charlottesville. Perriello was defeated in the 2010 election by Republican State Senator Robert Hurt.[22]

In announcing his first bid for Congress in 2007, Perriello spoke of his conviction politics: "Conviction politics will make me more effective if I win. The first question I asked myself before deciding to run for office was not 'can I win?' but 'can I improve people's lives if I win?'"[23]

Citing the 2006 midterm elections, Perriello pointed toward the example of fellow Democrats including Senators Jim Webb, Sherrod Brown, and Jon Tester—all winning in difficult political environments with firm positions that cut across typical progressive or conservative ideologies. Perriello framed his positions as "for the people and not for the corporate establishment" and did not focus on partisan divisions.[24]

During his time in Congress, Perriello often explained his support for controversial votes by his standard of conviction politics. Perriello described his vote for Cap and Trade legislation as a national security imperative, stating "There's got to be something more important than getting reelected," in an interview with Politico. "If I lose my seat, and that's the worst that happens, I could live with that."[25]

Time termed Perriello an "unapologetic progressive" in naming him one of the "new civic leaders" in its 40 under 40 issue for 2010.[26]

While in Congress, Perriello supported landmark legislation, including the Affordable Care Act, DREAM Act, and climate and stimulus legislation. A populist Democrat,[27][28] he was an ally in Congress of President Barack Obama, although he did not always vote in support of the President's agenda.[29] Perriello voted with the Democratic majority in the House of Representatives 90% of the time, according to a Washington Post analysis.[30]

Perriello voted for the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act,[31] the American Clean Energy and Security Act,[32] and the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act in March 2010.[33]

Health Care: During debate over the health care bill in the House, he voted for the Stupak–Pitts Amendment to the Affordable Health Care for America Act, which would have prohibited the use of federal funds to cover any part of the costs of any health plan that includes coverage of abortion, except in cases of rape, incest or danger to the life of the mother. But Perriello later supported the final Senate version of the bill (the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act), which did not include the Stupak-Pitts language,[34] and has since said he regrets his vote for Stupak, calling it the "worst vote of his career."[35]

Economic Policy: Perriello voted against the Unemployment Compensation Extension Act of 2009,[36] because the bill extended unemployment benefits for only some states and excluded Virginia.[37] He pressed the administration and Congress to include more infrastructure spending in the stimulus bill, and authored the Every Penny to Main Street Act, which would have used the money that banks paid back from the bailout to directly create new jobs in construction.[38] He also repeatedly urged Democrats to introduce a comprehensive national jobs bill.[39]

Gun Control: Perriello opposed a ban on assault weapons while in Congress.[34]

National Security: Perriello called for "keeping America safe by working to ensure that our military is equipped with the resources, equipment, and training necessary to win the global war on terrorism."[40] Although he cast votes for the continuation of U.S. military action in Afghanistan,[41][42] he also cosponsored legislation requiring U.S. President Barack Obama to submit an exit strategy for the end of combat operations in Afghanistan.[43][44] Perriello also opposed removing the U.S. military from Pakistan.[44] In 2010, Perriello voted in support of the defense bill.[42][45][46]

Sustainable Energy and Energy Independence: Perriello has been vocal in his support of sustainable energy solutions and energy independence.[47] In April 2018, Perriello co-authored an opinion piece in the Washington Post with Tom Cormons, executive director of Appalachian Voices, calling on Governor Northam to support a push by landowners and environmental groups against a fracking gas pipeline through the Blue Ridge Mountains.[48]

Hate Speech and Discrimination: Perriello strongly condemned the Unite the Right rally that occurred in Charlottesville in August 2017. Perriello wrote in Slate magazine that, “Our future will be determined by whether we speak honestly about the racial demagoguery of this White House, whether principled conservatives stop enabling the racist and authoritarian policies of the Trump administration, whether we restore the line between force and violence, and whether we have the moral and intellectual courage to engage honestly with our past.”[49] On the one year anniversary of the rally in 2018, Perriello said that while the impact of the rally remains to be seen, the event “could prove to be a wake-up call that inspired a more inclusive and just community and country.” He also strongly emphasized a need for white Americans to actively speak out and demonstrate against racism, in order to counter the narrative of white supremacists.

After losing his congressional seat, Perriello served as president and CEO of the Center for American Progress Action Fund and as a counselor for policy at Center for American Progress where he spoke out on issues of immigration reform,[50] voting rights,[51] inequality, and campaign finance reform.[52]

Secretary of State John Kerry tapped Perriello to lead the 2015 Quadrennial Diplomacy & Development Review, a strategic planning process intended to be conducted every four years for the U.S. Department of State and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). The two agencies have a budget of more than $50 billion and 80,000 employees. The resulting document, Enduring Leadership in a Dynamic World, set out four strategic priorities for American diplomacy and foreign assistance: preventing conflict and violent extremism, promoting democratic societies, advancing inclusive economic growth, and mitigating climate change. It also identified ways to make the agencies more efficient, including improving the use of data and diagnostics.[53]

In 2015, President Obama appointed Perriello to succeed former U.S. Senator Russell Feingold (D-Wisc.) as Special Envoy to the Great Lakes Region and the Democratic Republic of Congo. As Special Envoy, Perriello was the U.S. representative to a region including Democratic Republic of Congo, Burundi, and Rwanda, countries working to overcome a recent legacy of civil war and genocide. Perriello was charged with implementing the administration's policies of preventing mass atrocities and supporting the emergence of peaceful, democratic societies.[54]

In the Democratic Republic of Congo, Perriello worked closely with the national council of Catholic bishops to support mediation between the president and opposition groups over a political crisis triggered when the president attempted to stay in office beyond his constitutional term.[55] This work culminated in the historic New Year's Eve agreement on December 31, 2016, which lays out a path to the first peaceful transition of power since the country's independence in 1960.[56] He later wrote about the political challenges facing Congo in the Washington Post.[57]