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Veteran politico a first-time candidate A profile of Susan Platt, Democratic candidate for lieutenant governor Susan Platt, who is seeking the Democratic nomination for lieutenant governor, has a reputation for blunt speech.

Roanoke Times - 4/3/2017

In the bruising world of politics, Susan Platt is not afraid to wrangle with the men.

In January, the Democratic candidate for lieutenant governor called U.S. Rep. Dave Brat, R-7th, a "cowardly man" when the representative seemed shy about holding a town hall meeting.

While managing now-Rep. Don Beyer's campaign for governor in 1997, a news report quoting anonymous sources said Platt went on a "profanity-laced tirade" during a feud with other Democratic officials.

When reminded of the news account this week, Platt chuckled and said there may have been one small curse word, but that she simply was sticking up for Beyer.

On the campaign trail now herself, Platt says her two Democratic primary challengers are fine men.

But she predicts the GOP will nominate state Sen. Jill Holtzman Vogel for the general election and says she's the only Democrat who can defeat "Transvaginal Jill Vogel" in November. The nickname stems from Vogel's 2012 sponsorship of a bill that would have required a mandatory transvaginal ultrasound for women seeking abortions.

Platt, 62, the former political operative, aide to future Vice President Joe Biden, and lobbyist, announced in January that she'd make her first run for office. The catalyst was the surprise election of Donald Trump as president, she said.

"I never intended to run for office," she said. "If I'm going to get elected, I'm going to get something done."

Platt's opponents in the primary are Justin Fairfax and Gene Rossi, both former federal prosecutors from Northern Virginia.

Fairfax announced his campaign in May after narrowly losing in the Democratic primary for attorney general in 2013. Rossi, like Platt, is a first-time candidate.

On the GOP side, two other candidates are competing with Vogel in the June 13 primary: state Sen. Bryce Reeves of Spotsylvania County and Del. Glenn Davis of Virginia Beach.

Virginia never has had a woman serve as governor or lieutenant governor.

If Platt were nominated and her prediction of a Vogel nomination holds true, it would guarantee that a woman would become lieutenant governor. The new officeholder in the part-time job will replace Democrat Ralph Northam, who is running for governor.

Platt's campaign got attention in the past two weeks when comedian and gay rights activist Rosie O'Donnell endorsed Platt on Twitter.

"It just came out of the blue," said Platt, who jumped off the couch at her Fairfax County home to tell her husband when she saw the Twitter alert.

And then a poll released by the Wason Center for Public Policy at Christopher Newport University showed Platt with a clear lead over her primary challengers, although 60 percent of those surveyed were undecided.

She led Fairfax, who is black, by 28 percent to 8 percent among black voters in the Wason Center poll.

Platt has been around politics long enough to know that a favorable poll for a candidate who's been in a race only for two months doesn't mean she won't need to work hard.

Platt grew up in Pittsburgh, where her grandfather's family had immigrated from Czechoslovakia to work in steel mills.

Her father was in the Navy and became a mechanical engineer after going to college on the G.I. bill. He was the only one of 13 siblings to go to college.

When she was 5, her mother was diagnosed with breast cancer and died four years later.

Her father, who passed away in 2015, raised her to work hard.

"My pops empowered me to be the strongest and best person that I could be," she said. "And that I could do whatever I wanted."

She attended the University of Pittsburgh and moved to the Washington area after college. After working at a law firm where she met her husband, Ron, she got a job on Capitol Hill as a scheduler for U.S. Rep. Tim Wirth, D-Colo.

In 1990, state Del. Al Smith of Winchester asked Platt to manage the congressional campaign of his son, David Smith.

The son lost to GOP incumbent French Slaughter , but Platt's first time managing a campaign helped her land a job working for U.S. Sen. Chuck Robb, D-Va., on the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee and then as Robb's campaign manager for the 1994 campaign against Republican Oliver North and independent Marshall Coleman.

Robb was re-elected in a year when President Bill Clinton was unpopular and Republicans swept congressional races with their Contract With America. The race was one of the biggest in the country.

Platt got the job managing Robb's re-election after writing a memo that he liked about how he could win.

"I really liked the campaigning. I really liked the grassroots," Platt said. "I really liked being out there talking to people and organizing people."

She worked as chief of staff to Biden, then a Democratic U.S. senator from Delaware, from 1995 to 1997.

And she and Mary Sue Terry started an activist organization called the Farm Team in 2008, with the goal of increasing the presence of women in Virginia's public life by recruiting candidates, raising money, and providing professional services and advice for candidates. It was folded later into Emerge Virginia, also founded by Platt, which trains Democratic women to run for office.

Terry is the only woman ever elected statewide in Virginia. She was elected attorney general in 1985 and 1989 and then lost the race for governor to Republican George Allen in 1993.

Virginia's five statewide offices are filled by white men. This is a good year for a candidate who happens to be a woman, said Terry, a native of Patrick County.

"It's easy to say that Susan is a highly energetic, creative and focused person," Terry said. "She thinks strategically and tactically, and I'm sure she would do a great job as lieutenant governor."

Among women who have run for the job in Virginia, Jody Wagner was the Democratic nominee for lieutenant governor in 2009 but lost to Republican Bill Bolling. Leslie Byrne was the Democratic nominee for lieutenant governor in 2005 and also lost to Bolling.

Platt and her husband live in the Great Falls area of Fairfax. As a longtime lobbyist in Washington, she has worked for Henrico County-based tobacco company Altria, ADP and other companies.

On policy, Platt and the other Democratic candidates are progressive.

Platt backs more environmental protections; has come out against two natural gas pipeline projects in Virginia; and wants to create a new state Cabinet position to help parents navigate the various agencies that provide services to needy children.

She's running as a children's advocate and for promotion of jobs and a diverse economy. She served one term on the Virginia Tourism Corporation board, appointed by then-Gov. Tim Kaine.

Platt recently posted a Tweet that illustrates what she's long faced in Virginia politics: "Today, a male Dem elected official told me he doesn't like how I advocate for more women in office. Now I'm more determined than ever."

She said she didn't want to name the individual but wanted to make a point. That mindset is why she started organizations to help women run for office.

The encounter, she said, "is not the first one and it won't be the last one."