VA Gubernatorial Race Shows Split in the GOP

Tea Party vs. establishment

RICHMOND, Va. — As Republicans debate ways to appeal to voters whom their positions have pushed away, some Republican leaders in Virginia are warning that the party is poised to repeat the mistakes of last November, choosing a nominee for governor who turns off younger, female and nonwhite voters.

Kenneth T. Cuccinelli II, the presumed nominee, is a combative conservative who calls the Obama administration "the biggest set of lawbreakers in America" as he seeks to lead an increasingly purple state that twice voted for Mr. Obama.

"I don't think as a whole the Republican Party in Virginia is moving in the right direction," said Ken Stolle, the Republican sheriff of Virginia Beach. "I think we're limiting our appeal and that's why we're losing elections."