Lt. gov. hopeful Signer visits Valley

Mike Signer wants to use Virginia’s lieutenant governor job as one to be a people’s advocate in Richmond.

“The job can be much more,’’ said Signer, who is seeking the position to be more than a placeholder.

The University of Virginia law graduate, holder of a doctorate in political science from the University of California-Berkeley and Arlington resident said he is a progressive candidate who believes “activism can bring change.”

Signer, a former deputy counsel in the Mark Warner gubernatorial administration, stopped in both Waynesboro and Staunton Friday as a part of a final effort to earn the Democratic nomination in Tuesday’s state primary.

Jody Wagner, a Norfolk attorney and former secretary of finance for Gov. Tim Kaine and state treasurer for Warner, is Signer’s opponent.

While praising Wagner’s character, Signer said he was the first candidate with a specific jobs plan and other platforms such as care for veterans.

With his jobs plan, Signer is stressing green technology jobs that focus on efficiency and weatherization. He supports a wind farm off the coast of Hampton Roads.

On veterans issues, Signer has advocated the creation of a “HomeCorps’’ that links veterans with mental health professionals and other benefits such as a post deployment retreat for veterans and their families.

“I am committed to the fighting forces and wounded warriors,’’ Signer said during his Waynesboro stop.

Signer first became involved in Virginia politics while working with Warner when the latter unsuccessfully made a 1996 bid for the U.S. Senate.

During Warner’s service as Virginia governor early in this decade, Signer became a deputy counsel.

He offered advice to Warner on clemency appeals, homeland security and a myriad of other issues.

A year ago, Signer was a strategist for 5th District U.S. Rep. Tom Perriello in Perriello’s defeat of incumbent U.S. Rep. Virgil Goode.

Signer said if elected, he would most like to follow the example of former Virginia Lt. Gov. Don Beyer.

Of Beyer, who served in the 1990s, Signer said he represented Virginians “and made the job relevant.”

Wagner, Signer’s opponent, released a statement about her campaign late Friday afternoon.

The campaign said “Jody’s been a leader on the issues facing Virginia for the last seven years. As a member of the Warner and Kaine administrations, she’s played an integral role in getting Virginia back on track and keeping the commonwealth moving forward.”

Wagner’s economic plan calls for new jobs based on establishing rural Virginia as a leader in future industries such as biotechnology and renewable energy production.