The District
Virginia's 2nd Congressional District

Virginia's 2nd Congressional district, recently redrawn to encompass all of Virginia Beach, the state's largest city, and part of the city of Norfolk, has become an area characterized by its contradictions.

It's a Republican-leaning district that, for 14 years, has stood behind a Democratic Congressman. Norfolk is a hub of military activity, but one of the residents' biggest complaints is jet noise. And it's hard to find more obvious opposites than the blue-collar shipping industry that makes up the heart of Hampton Roads and the white-collar families and retirees of Virginia Beach.

It shouldn't be surprising, then, that the candidates vying to fill the seat of retiring Rep. Owen Pickett also seem to be polar opposites. Republican Ed Schrock, a 59-year-old retired Navy captain and state senator, is hoping his record and name recognition will get him to Washington. Democrat Jody Wagner, a political unknown, is basing her campaign on a successful legal and business career and a background in community service.

But there's one issue everyone who hopes to win in Hampton Roads agrees on: the military. The 2nd district contains six military bases, including the Norfolk Naval Base -- the largest of its kind in the world. In all, according to figures from last year, 82,240 of the district's 419,231 voting-age residents are active-service military -- a powerful voting block, especially when added to the thousands of civilians with military-related jobs.

Those serving the 2nd district, including Pickett, are usually steadfast in their support of the military and the $2 billion in annual spending that filters down to Hampton Roads. When, after four rounds of base closings, the shadow of a budget cut loomed over the Norfolk Navy Shipyard in 1997, Pickett's response was characteristically adamant. "Not just no," Pickett said, looking at another sweep of base closings, "Hell, no!"

Besides its political clout, the military makes up much of the area's economic backbone, though it is bolstered by a growing ship-building and shipping industry. Tourism in Virginia Beach has faded since its heyday in the 1980s, but visitors still contribute a good deal to the local economy. A small sliver of the district -- just over one percent -- is populated by rural farmers.

Racially, the district is mixed. Seventeen percent of residents are black, four percent are Asian, and three percent are Latino.

While Pickett was elected by wide margins in recent years -- he garnered 65 percent of the vote in 1996 and ran unopposed in 1998 -- the 2nd district has remained steadfastly Republican in its presidential politics, supporting Robert Dole in 1996 and George Bush in 1992. But with early projections leaning in Schrock's favor, analysts say this could be the year 2nd district voters unite behind one party.

-- By Greg Barber, The Online NewsHour