Rep. Randy Forbes (R) Elected June 2001, 2d full term
Born:	Feb. 17, 1952, Chesapeake
Home:	Chesapeake
Education:	Randolph-Macon Col., B.A. 1974, U. of VA, J.D. 1977
Religion:	Baptist
Marital Status:	married (Shirley)
Elected  Office:	VA House of Del., 1989-97; VA Senate, 1997-2001.
Professional Career:	Practicing atty., 1977-2001.
DC Office	307 CHOB20515, 202-225-6365; Fax: 202-226-1170; Web site: www.house.gov/forbes
State Offices	Chesapeake, 757-382-0080; Colonial Heights, 804-526-4969; Emporia, 434-634-5575.
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The clash of arms resounds through much of the history of Tidewater Virginia. The Tidewater was the scene of the final victory of the Revolutionary War and saw bitter fighting more than 80 years later in the Civil War, as Union troops invested the battlements of the small industrial city of Petersburg, 25 miles south of Richmond. Today, the Tidewater region boasts one of the densest concentrations of military power in the world: The Hampton Roads area has the nation's largest accumulation of Navy bases, while Fort Lee, the big Army base near Petersburg, has provided 6,800 local jobs and an estimated $686 million impact on the local economy.

The 4th Congressional District of Virginia includes much of the Tidewater south of the James River. About half its people are in the Hampton Roads area, mostly in the fast-growing suburbs of Chesapeake and Suffolk. In Chesapeake, which was named by Money magazine as among the best places to live in the country, residents cite their quality schools, open local government and ample green space. Suffolk's sandy loam soil is the eastern edge of Virginia's Peanut Belt, nearly all of which is in the 4th, where farmers begin planting in late April or early May and wait five months for the crop to reach maturity. The district also takes in the flat lands of Southside Virginia fanning south from the James River. These were tobacco lands after the English first settled them in the 17th century; today they also produce peanuts and Smithfield hams. The Great Dismal Swamp, which crosses into North Carolina, is a breathtaking national wildlife preserve that features long hikes into marshy woodland and the shallow Lake Drummond at its center; it was a sanctuary for runaway slaves. The district also includes all of Petersburg and Hopewell, with its Honeywell plant facing 18th century plantations. The 2001 redistricting removed majority-black Portsmouth from the district and added heavily white parts of suburban Chesterfield County outside Richmond; this reduced the 4th's black percentage from 39% to 33%.

The congressman from the 4th District is Randy Forbes, a Republican who won a June 2001 special election. Forbes grew up in Chesapeake, majored in government at Randolph-Macon, graduated from the University of Virginia Law School, and returned home to start a law firm which later merged with a larger Norfolk firm. His first job in politics was as an aide to the Democratic member of the House of Delegates from Chesapeake. When his boss retired in 1989, Forbes ran for and won the seat as a Republican. Four years later, when Republicans were still in the minority, he became the party's floor leader. In 1997 he was elected to the state Senate. Forbes was a classmate and friend of Governors George Allen and Jim Gilmore in law school, and in 1996 Allen made him Republican state chairman; he helped engineer the historic Republican 1997 sweep of all three statewide offices.

In early 2001, Forbes was a leading candidate for lieutenant governor. When 10-term Democratic Congressman Norman Sisisky died in March eight days after cancer surgery, national and state Republican leaders asked Forbes to run in what was then a competitive seat. The nominee was chosen at a convention, and Forbes won by forging unity in the delegations from Chesapeake and Portsmouth, then the district's two largest cities. He got a break when the strongest Democrat, Sisisky's son Mark, declined to run. Democrats chose state Senator Louise Lucas of Portsmouth, an African-American who held a majority-black seat. Lucas worked for 18 years at the Norfolk Naval Shipyard, where she became its first woman shipfitter. Both national parties and their interest-group allies spent heavily. Republicans attacked Lucas for opposing repeal of the sales tax on non-prescription drugs and for supporting a gasoline tax increase. Democrats criticized Forbes for backing "privatization" of Social Security. Forbes said that he favored George W. Bush's proposal to let younger workers invest some of their payroll taxes in individual investment accounts, but his ads emphasized that he would preserve current benefits--"every penny of it." Lucas carried Portsmouth 63%-37%. But Forbes more than overcame this by winning 61%-39% in more populous Chesapeake and majorities in seven of the 10 rural counties, for an overall win of 52%-48%.

In the House, Forbes has voted with conservatives and he sits on the Armed Services, Judiciary and Science committees. In a rare break with party leaders, he opposed the intelligence bill because it failed to address immigration problems. Forbes cosponsored the constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriages, and spoke up for Representative Chris Smith's proposed Unborn Child Pain Awareness Act, which would require doctors to inform the mother of the pain that a fetus can feel from an abortion. He claimed credit for $50 million in housing and other base projects at Fort Lee, $7 million to replace two local bridges, and $200,000 to reimburse the Chesapeake police department for its expenses in the local trial of Washington Beltway sniper Lee Malvo. In 2005, he became co-chairman, with Susan Davis of California, of the Navy and Marine Corps Caucus.

After the Republicans' redistricting, Lucas decided against a rematch in 2002 and Forbes was unopposed. In 2004 Forbes won 64%-35%. And so a district held for 19 years by a Democrat has become safely Republican. As for Forbes, he wields influence as a political power broker in his hometown. He "continues to shape the future of Chesapeake even as his national political stature grows," the Virginian Pilot wrote in a profile. "By his own admission, he can't and won't let go of a place where his roots run so deep." That profile noted his interest in running for the Senate some day. As Forbes cited approvingly, Senator John Warner told an audience, "If I retire, there's nobody I know of that would be a better-suited replacement for me in the Senate than Randy Forbes."

Committees

• Armed Services (19th of 34 R): Readiness; Tactical Air & Land Forces.
• Judiciary (19th of 23 R): Commercial & Administrative Law; Courts, the Internet & Intellectual Property; Crime, Terrorism & Homeland Security.
• Science (15th of 24 R): Space & Aeronautics.

Group Ratings (More Info)
	ADA	ACLU	AFS	LCV	ITIC	NTU	COC	ACU	NTLC	CHC
2004	5	0	0	0	90	66	100	100	89	100	--
2003	10	--	0	10	--	61	97	92	--	--	--

National Journal Ratings (More Info)
	2003 LIB	--	2003 CONS		2004 LIB	--	2004 CONS
Economic	9%	--	84%		16%	--	84%
Social	30%	--	65%		24%	--	76%
Foreign	21%	--	77%		17%	--	78%
For National Journal's complete 2004 Vote Ratings, as well as previous ratings dating back to 1995, please click here.

Key Votes Of The 108th Congress (More Info)
1. Drilling in ANWR Y 2. Approve Bush Tax Cuts Y 3. Medicare/Rx Bill Y 4. Bar Overtime Pay Regs. N 5. DC School Vouchers Y 6. Ban Human Cloning Y		7. Restrict Gun Liability Y  8. Ban Partial-Birth Abortion Y  9. Ban Same-Sex Marriage Y 10. Fund Iraq War Y 11. Bar Cuba Embargo Funds N 12. Intelligence Reorg. Y

Election Results (More Info)
	Candidate	Total Votes	Percent	Expenditures
2004 general	Randy Forbes (R)	182,444	64%	$858,666
	Jonathan Menefee (D)	100,413	35%	$30,215
2004 primary	Randy Forbes (R)	unopposed
2002 general	Randy Forbes (R)	108,733	98%	$1,668,314
	Other	2,308	2%
Prior winning percentages: 2001 (52%)

2004 Presidential Vote Bush (R) 166,689 (57%) Kerry (D) 125,164 (43%)

2000 Presidential Vote Bush (R) 131,834 (54%) Gore (D) 107,553 (44%)

For 1992 and 1996 presidential results in the Fourth 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 + 5
• District Size: 4,575 square miles
• Population in 2000: 643,477; 70.9% urban; 29.1% rural
• Median Household Income: $45,249; 9.5% are below the poverty line
• Occupation: 27.6% blue collar; 57.8% white collar; 14.6% gray collar; 16.2% military veterans
• Race/Ethnic Origin: 62.0% White, 33.1% Black, 1.3% Asian, 0.3% Amer. Indian, 0.0% Hawaiian, 1.1% Two+ races, 0.1% Other, 2.0% Hispanic origin
• Ancestry: 10.0% USA, 8.6% English, 7.2% German
• Click here for statewide demographic data.