Russ Potts
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Harry Russell Potts Jr. (March 4, 1939 – December 19, 2021) was an American businessman, journalist, and politician who served as a Republican state senator in
Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...
, representing the 27th district from 1992 to 2008. An
independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in Pennsylvania, United States * Independentes (English: Independents), a Portuguese artist ...
candidate for
Governor of Virginia The governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia is the head of government of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Virginia. The Governor (United States), governor is head of the Government_of_Virginia#Executive_branch, executive branch ...
in
2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...
, Potts received 2.22 percent of the vote in a race won by Democrat
Tim Kaine Timothy Michael Kaine ( ; born February 26, 1958) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the Seniority in the United States Senate, junior United States senator from Virginia since 2013. A member of the Democratic Party (United States ...
, far below the votes received by Republican Jerry Kilgore. Following backlash within the Republican Party from his 2005 independent candidacy, Potts retired from the state senate at the following election.


Early life

Born in
Richmond, Virginia Richmond ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), U.S. commonwealth of Virginia. Incorporated in 1742, Richmond has been an independent city (United States), independent city since 1871. ...
on March 4, 1939, Potts graduated from the
University of Maryland The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland, United States. Founded in 1856, UMD is the flagship institution of the Univ ...
with a major in journalism and a minor in political science. Potts served in the U.S. Army Reserves (1958–64).


Career

A former sports editor for the '' Winchester Star'', Potts held various athletic management and marketing positions with the
University of Maryland The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland, United States. Founded in 1856, UMD is the flagship institution of the Univ ...
and
Southern Methodist University Southern Methodist University (SMU) is a Private university, private research university in Dallas, Texas, United States, with a satellite campus in Taos County, New Mexico. SMU was founded on April 17, 1911, by the Methodist Episcopal Church, ...
. He was also once vice president of the
Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. The club plays its ...
. In 1982, he founded Russ Potts Productions Inc., a
small business Small businesses are types of corporations, partnerships, or sole proprietorships which have a small number of employees and/or less annual revenue than a regular-sized business or corporation. Businesses are defined as "small" in terms of being ...
in sports marketing. The company claims to have promoted many of the biggest and most successful independent sporting events in North America in the past four decades, as well as worked with various collegiate teams, Major League Baseball and the National Basketball Association. Potts has been inducted into the Virginia Sports Hall of Fame, NACMA Hall of Fame (National Association of College Marketing Administrators),
Shenandoah University Shenandoah University is a private university in Winchester, Virginia, United States. It has an enrollment of approximately 4,000 students across more than 200 areas of study in six schools and colleges. Shenandoah University is one of five Unit ...
Hall of Fame,
Potomac State College of West Virginia University WVU Potomac State College is a public college in Keyser, West Virginia, United States. It is part of the West Virginia University system. Potomac State College is located approximately 90 miles (140 km) east of West Virginia University's campus ...
Hall of Fame, John Handley High School Hall of Fame and the
Phi Delta Theta Phi Delta Theta (), commonly known as Phi Delt, is an international secret and social Fraternities and sororities in North America, fraternity founded in 1848, and currently headquartered, at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. Phi Delta Theta, alo ...
Hall of Fame.


Politics

First elected to the
Virginia General Assembly The Virginia General Assembly is the legislative body of the Commonwealth of Virginia, the oldest continuous law-making body in the Western Hemisphere, and the first elected legislative assembly in the New World. It was established on July 30, ...
in 1991 as a Republican, Potts received 49.6% of the vote in a four-candidate race. He was re-elected by large margins in 1995 and 1999, the latter year only facing a challenger (Mark D. Tate) in the Republican primary. In 2003, he defeated Democrat Mark R. Herring, who later became Virginia's Attorney General. Potts eventually chaired the Senate Education and Health Committee. Decades earlier, Harry Byrd, Sr. represented the same Senate district, but Potts actually succeeded fellow Methodist and Republican state senator William A. Truban (1971–1991). He was succeeded by Jill Holtzman Vogel, who also defeated Mark D. Tate (in the 2007 Republican primary).


Views

Potts frequently referred to himself as a "moderate Republican," and criticized the Republican Party for being too far right politically to be in touch with the people it represents. Potts' moderate views on abortion and taxes led some Republicans to label him a Republican In Name Only.


Republican opposition to 2005 gubernatorial run

Potts ran as an independent in the Virginia gubernatorial election, 2005. Virginia
pundits A pundit is a person who offers opinion in an authoritative manner on a particular subject area (typically politics, the social sciences, technology or sport), usually through the mass media. The term pundit describes both women and men, altho ...
disagreed on how he would affect the November gubernatorial election, and the Winchester City Republican Committee disowned him in early March 2005. Both the Kilgore and Kaine campaigns announced his candidacy to be in their favor — the former because of Potts' relatively liberal views, and the latter for his appeal to moderate Republicans. Potts was considered an underdog to both of these candidates, trailing behind them in popular and financial support. Lloyd Ross, founder of the
Tuesday Morning Tuesday Morning Corporation was an American household merchandise discount home goods store headquartered in Dallas, Texas. Founded in 1974, Tuesday Morning once had over 700 locations across the country and advertised itself as having high quali ...
retail chain and frequent contributor to Republican campaigns, donated $300,000 to the Potts campaign. In April 2005, Lieutenant Governor and Democratic gubernatorial candidate
Tim Kaine Timothy Michael Kaine ( ; born February 26, 1958) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the Seniority in the United States Senate, junior United States senator from Virginia since 2013. A member of the Democratic Party (United States ...
, in his role as president of the Senate, refused to entertain a motion to strip Potts of his committee assignments. His ruling was upheld on a 27–9 vote. Kilgore refused to debate Russ Potts, a decision which columnist Barnie Day said could strengthen Potts'
underdog An underdog is a person or group in a competition, usually in sports and creative works, who is largely expected to lose. The party, team, or individual expected to win is called the favorite or wikt:top dog, top dog. In the case where an under ...
appeal and was a poor decision by Kilgore. It is unclear whether this had any effect on the election's outcome. Russ Potts polled 9% in a Mason-Dixon poll, but then dropped to 6% in a September poll. He needed to poll 15% in two separate polls to qualify for participation in the October Kaine-Kilgore debate. This poll was taken before Potts' TV ads ran. Although Potts was excluded from the final debate, he agreed to be sequestered in an office at Richmond's
WTVR-TV WTVR-TV (channel 6) is a television station in Richmond, Virginia, United States, affiliated with CBS and owned by the E. W. Scripps Company. Its studios are located on West Broad Street on Richmond's West End, and its transmitter is located ...
during Sunday evening's debate and was not allowed to hear any of the questions nor any of the answers offered by his opponents. Minutes after the debate ended, Potts was taken into WTVR-TV studios where the station played back the debate in real time and recorded Potts' answers to each of the debate questions. In the last week of the campaign, Jerry Kilgore's campaign sent out a direct mail piece contrasting Potts with Tim Kaine and encouraging "progressive" voters to support Potts. The piece was billed as a "2005 Official Democrat and Progressive Voter Guide," but a notice in small print, turned 90 degrees to the rest of the piece and placed next to a picture so as to resemble a photo credit, noted that it was paid for by "Virginians for Jerry Kilgore". The State Board of Elections imposed a $100 fine for the violation.


Personal life and death

Potts married Emily Strite in 1965, and they had three daughters. After a series of falls, Potts died from
viral pneumonia Viral pneumonia is a pneumonia caused by a virus. Pneumonia is an infection that causes inflammation in one or both lungs. The pulmonary alveoli fill with fluid or pus making it difficult to breathe. Pneumonia can be caused by bacteria, viruses, ...
in Winchester on December 19, 2021, aged 82.


References


Sources


Russ Potts Vision for Virginia
* Day, Barnie
Politics 101 – People don't pull for the overdog: Potts as Pac Man
, June 23, 2005. * Edds, Margaret
Russ Potts: A Republican voice from outside the tent
, The Virginian-Pilot, April 10, 2005. * Graham, Chris
Potts, Kilgore tear into Kaine roads plan
, Augusta Free Press, June 29, 2005. * Helderman, Rosalind S.

The Washington Post, March 9, 2005.

September 19, 2005. * Shapiro, Jeff E.
Donor puts $300,000 into Potts Campaign
Richmond Times-Dispatch, April 14, 2005.


External links

* ''Follow the Money'' – H Russell Potts Jr
2005200320011999
Senate campaign contributions
2005
Governor campaign contributions {{DEFAULTSORT:Potts, Russ 1939 births 2021 deaths 20th-century American businesspeople 20th-century American newspaper editors 20th-century members of the Virginia General Assembly 21st-century American businesspeople 21st-century members of the Virginia General Assembly American marketing businesspeople Candidates in the 2005 United States elections Chicago White Sox executives Deaths from pneumonia in Virginia Military personnel from Richmond, Virginia Politicians from Richmond, Virginia Politicians from Winchester, Virginia Potomac State College of West Virginia University people SMU Mustangs athletic directors University of Maryland, College Park alumni Virginia independents Virginia Republicans Virginia state senators