16th District House Race – Update #2

It’s time for our second look at the region’s 16th District House of Delegates race. Let’s see what has changed…

For reference, here’s our first look at the race.

Recap: Incumbent Don Merricks is not running for re-election. Two newcomers, Republican Les Adams and Democrat Elizabeth Jones are running for the seat.

Notes since last update for each :

• Adams: Adams is running an error-free campaign so far. He’s got plenty of money to make it to the finish line.
• Jones: Jones’ campaign is falling apart quickly. Her latest statements can be summarized by “Republicans are causing the problems in the USA. My opponent is a Republican, therefore he’s part of the problem.” She also failed miserably with an advertisement trying to link Adams to pro-uranium mining. Adams was able to brush it off quickly and this made Jones look quite ridiculous.

Thoughts:

• Jones had a decent potential to make this race slightly competitive but has totally blown it by sticking to generic Democratic taking points.
• The horrible hit-piece mailer from the state Democratic Party really wasn’t thought over very well and Jones didn’t help herself at all by trying to defend it.
• Adams is on cruise control now and seems to have been in that pattern since the campaign started. For a first time candidate, it’s amazing to see how smooth he’s been.
• Jones has never picked up any traction except from her core base. That’s a mistake that first-time candidates easily make.

The race was Adams’ to lose from the start and he’s done nothing to do that. I’m disappointed that Jones regressed to name-calling and hasn’t presented her viewpoints in a positive way. There’s absolutely no reason to change our rating on this race, so it will stay “SAFE – Adams”.