Rep. Thelma Drake (R) Elected 2004, 1st term
Born:	Nov. 20, 1949, Elyria, OH
Home:	Norfolk
Education:	Elyria H.S.
Religion:	United Church of Christ
Marital Status:	married (Ted)
Elected  Office:	VA House of Del., 1995-2004.
Professional Career:	Real estate agent, 1975-2004.
DC Office	1208 LHOB20515, 202-225-4215; Fax: 202-225-4218; Web site: www.drake.house.gov
State Offices	Accomac, 757-787-7836; Virginia Beach, 757-497-6859.
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The United States Navy Atlantic fleet berthed in its homeport of Norfolk is one of the great awe-inspiring sights in America, or anywhere. The aggregation of destructive power in the line of towering gray ships is probably greater than in any other single port in history. Several dozen ships are based here--aircraft carriers, cruisers, destroyers, large amphibious ships, submarines, supply and logistics ships--and many more aircraft. Norfolk has been a Navy port since 1801, and has long been recognized as one of the best natural harbors on the East Coast, one that never freezes, has a channel 50 feet deep and is within 750 miles of three-quarters of U.S. manufacturing capacity. The Norfolk Naval Station is now the world's largest naval station, situated on 4,300 acres on Sewells Point, and the Hampton Roads region is the world's largest naval base, where residents are always within minutes of one naval installation or another. Norfolk, once a small city, is now the center of a metro area with 1.6 million people. The local Navy community--retirees, dependents, active duty and civilian personnel, workers at the Newport News Shipbuilding & Drydock--is estimated at more than 300,000 and military spending pours over $11 billion annually into the local economy. The port also has become a major commercial hub for East Coast shippers and distributors, with imports of containerized retail cargo increasing more than 50% since 2000.

Next-door Virginia Beach, once a beach resort and acres of swamp, is the state's largest city, with more than 439,000 people. It began attracting tourists when rail service began in 1883; now it hosts the larger-than-life Williamsburg-style headquarters of Pat Robertson's Christian Broadcasting Network (the 700 Club is produced here) and other Robertson operations. But like Norfolk, Virginia Beach is infused with military culture. It is home to four military installations--Oceana Naval Air Station is the city's largest employer--with 35,000 service and civilian employees and an annual payroll of over $1 billion. East Coast Navy SEAL teams are also based in Virginia Beach; these elite commandos endure punishing military training and have taken on some of the military's most secretive, daring and hazardous missions in Afghanistan and Iraq. They keep largely to themselves, deploying and returning quietly, and grieve amongst themselves when one of their own pays the ultimate price.

The 2d Congressional District of Virginia includes all of Virginia Beach. It also includes parts of Norfolk and Hampton with mostly white residents, including the Norfolk Navy base and Langley Air Force Base and, on a spit of land in the bay, Fort Monroe, where Jefferson Davis was confined after the Civil War. It also includes a more placid area, the two Virginia counties of the Delmarva Peninsula, Virginia's Eastern Shore, site of the annual roundup of wild Chincoteague ponies; these rural counties with their fishing villages are two of the state's poorest. Surrounded by water on three sides, far from markets, they are connected to Virginia Beach by the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel with its $12 toll. Back in the 1960s and 1970s, most people in the 2d District were in Norfolk, and the district often voted Democratic. Now the overwhelming majority live in Virginia Beach, and the district is firmly Republican. George W. Bush carried it with 55% of the vote in 2000 and 58% in 2004.

The congresswoman from the 2d District is Thelma Drake, a Republican first elected in 2004. She has a unique biography and won the seat in an unusual set of circumstances. She grew up in Elyria, Ohio, got pregnant in high school and then married her Navy-bound high school boyfriend. They moved to Norfolk, where her husband soon divorced her and she was left to raise her child alone. Her experience as a single mother colors her outlook: "I always felt I was the only person responsible for myself. You don't turn to other people to help you." Drake declined to go on welfare and instead worked for 20 years as a real estate agent. In 1995, she defeated an incumbent to win a seat in the House of Delegates. She voted to hold a referendum in the Hampton Roads area in 2002 for a tax increase to pay for local transportation projects; it was rejected 62%-38%. In April 2004 she voted against Governor Mark Warner's tax increase package, which nonetheless passed when 17 Republican delegates and 15 Republican state senators supported it. Republican delegates were bitterly split over the issue, and local conservative activists were eager to defeat those who had supported the tax increase and to reward those who opposed it.

Drake had no plans to run for the House in 2004. Republican Ed Schrock, first elected in 2000, seemed likely to win reelection easily. Then on August 30, as the Republican National Convention was convening in New York, Schrock abruptly announced his retirement amid allegations that he had engaged in homosexual activity. The married lawmaker and retired Navy captain never confirmed or denied the allegations; his statement noted simply that the charges "called into question my ability to represent the citizens of Virginia's 2nd Congressional District." The next day, the 12-member Second Congressional District Republican Committee met to choose a new nominee. Drake ran, as did state Senator Nick Rerras, who voted for the Warner tax increase, and Virginia Beach Sheriff Paul Lanteigne. Drake won a majority of the votes in the secret ballot, in large part because of her stand against the tax increase.

The Republican turmoil gave unexpected life to the candidacy of Democrat David Ashe, a lawyer and Marine reservist who had recently returned from a two-year tour in the Middle East, including six months in Iraq, where he worked on restoring the judicial system. Ashe was a political newcomer but proved to be an active candidate, and national Democrats immediately elevated him on their priority list. He promised fiscal conservatism and reduction of the federal deficit. Drake attacked Ashe for "weakening the war on terror" because he supported John Kerry. But Democrats responded by highlighting Ashe's military credentials; the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee ran ads urging voters to "send a Marine to Congress." Drake, in turn, promised to focus on military and national security issues and to vote to make the Bush tax cuts permanent. With help from national Republicans, she outraised Ashe by nearly 2-1 and won 55%-45%, carrying the four largest cities and counties by similar margins. As promised by Speaker Dennis Hastert, Drake got a seat on the Armed Services Committee.

Following the election, Schrock returned to Capitol Hill as a senior aide to the House Government Reform and Oversight Committee, chaired by Tom Davis of Northern Virginia.

Committees

• Armed Services (30th of 34 R): Military Personnel; Projection Forces.
• Education & the Workforce (26th of 27 R): 21st Century Competitiveness; Workforce Protections.
• Resources (21st of 27 R): Energy & Mineral Resources; Fisheries & Oceans.

Election Results (More Info)
	Candidate	Total Votes	Percent	Expenditures
2004 general	Thelma Drake (R)	132,946	55%	$828,185
	David Ashe (D)	108,180	45%	$436,620
2004 primary	Ed Schrock (R)	unopposed
2002 general	Ed Schrock (R)	103,807	83%	$483,440
	D.C. Amarasinghe (Green)	20,589	16%	$12,415

2004 Presidential Vote Bush (R) 141,097 (58%) Kerry (D) 101,576 (42%)

2000 Presidential Vote Bush (R) 115,512 (55%) Gore (D) 90,256 (43%)

For 1992 and 1996 presidential results in the Second District, please see the Almanac 2000 online. Please note that these older returns reflect district lines as they existed prior to 2002 redistricting.

• Cook Partisan Voting Index: R + 6
• District Size: 2,776 square miles
• Population in 2000: 643,510; 91.7% urban; 8.3% rural
• Median Household Income: $44,193; 8.7% are below the poverty line
• Occupation: 21.1% blue collar; 63.0% white collar; 15.9% gray collar; 20.3% military veterans
• Race/Ethnic Origin: 67.4% White, 21.4% Black, 4.0% Asian, 0.4% Amer. Indian, 0.1% Hawaiian, 2.2% Two+ races, 0.2% Other, 4.4% Hispanic origin
• Ancestry: 10.1% German, 9.1% Irish, 9.0% English
• Click here for statewide demographic data.