Hello my name is Ralph Northam I’m the Lieutenant Governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia and
I’m running to become the 73rd governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia.
You've seen how hard it has been for Terry McAuliffe to get anything done.
Can you do it?
You know I am going to do it.
And that's one of the reasons why I want to be governor is because I have been in the
state legislature now for 10 years.
Six years in the Senate and then the privilege of presiding over the Senate for four years
as as lieutenant governor.
And as I said from the dias the other night it's just been a tremendous privilege to serve
Virginia but also to get to know each senator and their families and and I do consider them
friends.
I think we agree that we can disagree but at the end of the day we know we're there
to do what's in the best interests of Virginia.
And as you remember several years ago you know I passed the smoking ban in restaurants
and I took on the tobacco industry which as you know has a tremendous amount of influence
in Virginia and I did that by working with both sides of the aisle.
And so you know I realize that I don't have a monopoly on ideas.
I do feel very strongly about my values and principles but at the end of day I'm I'm open
minded and I enjoy listening to other people's agendas.
There is a little bit of soul searching within both parties.
Yeah.
I'm wondering what you... obviously Hillary Clinton won.
Right.
In Virginia.
Yes.
And there are still some people in the democratic party that feel some angst and feel like things
need to be shaken up.
How do you speak to those people?
You know I think people in Virginia, Laura at least when I travel around or are looking
for two things in a in a leader.
The first is they're very concerned about what's going on in Washington right now especially
with health care especially with some of the attacks on the LGBT community on immigrants
on women's access to reproductive health care on the environment especially the Chesapeake
Bay so they want to know that there's someone that will stand up and fight for Virginia
and fight against what's going on in Washington and making sure that that doesn't affect what
we're doing here in Virginia.
So that's that's one thing that we deal with as we go around and listen to folks.
You know the other thing that people want is they want a job that they can support themselves
with their families.
They want to know that their families have access to affordable quality health care and
they want to know that their children have access to a world class education and want
to live in safe communities.
They don't want guns on every street corner in Virginia.
So they want someone who has lead in Virginia that knows how to get things done.
The smoking ban in the restaurants is a good example of that.
And it really can take Virginia to the next level
Guns you mentioned guns, that's a tough issue to get compromise on but how do you think
you can do that with republicans.
You know them but beyond that.
Yeah.
I think you know one of the things I've been able to do over the years Laura is find things
that we can agree on.
And so for in that particular issue of guns it is very difficult in Virginia.
People feel very strongly about the Second Amendment their rights.
And so if we can find agree on for example that we should have responsible gun ownership
just like we have responsible use of automobiles.
Nobody wants someone getting behind the wheel that shouldn't be there.
And the same is true with guns.
Nobody wants someone having access to a gun.
That one isn't trained or perhaps has you know mental issues are or other things domestic
violence or a lot of issues that that people with those people shouldn't have access to
guns so if we can find something that we can agree on and then go from there that's the
way that I like to do things and as you know I have an interesting perspective on guns.
I grew up on the eastern shore a very rural area I grew up hunting and fishing as did
my family.
But then I served in the military I took care of wounded soldiers during Desert Storm who
were on the receiving end of assault weapons.
And I have seen what those do to human beings.
And there's just no excuse that we have those in my mind on our streets and in our society.
I also as a pediatric neurologist have held two and three year old toddlers in my arms
and and I've had to tell their parents that their children aren't going to live because
they have picked up a loaded weapon on a bedside table for example and either shot themselves
or shot their siblings.
You know we have smart gun technology now.
It's 2017.
I would say what are we waiting for?
We can again we can agree to disagree but at the end of the day I like to build consensus
and again do what's in the best interests of Virginia.
So speaking of challenges the state is facing, under President Trump, of course has has talked
about laying off Federal workers, he has talked about military build up but also other cuts.
How do you think you could address that?
Well starting with with health care Laura you know we have been very frugal in Virginia
with our Medicaid spending.
Politically we chose not to expand Medicaid.
It's something that I fought to expand Medicaid since 2014 and we haven't been able to get
it done.
We've done a lot of what we call managed care Medicaid.
So so we're 47th in the country now on what we spend in Medicaid.
So if in Washington they do what we call a block grant, Virginia is very vulnerable and
we need to take care of those that are less fortunate than us.
And what better person to have at the table than someone who understands health care and
who is a physician.
So health care is important.
The environment is very important as you know I have been an advocate for restoring the
health of the Chesapeake Bay since I've been in Richmond.
We've made a lot of good progress.
Now President Trump wants to take 73 million dollars away from what we've been use in to
restore the health of the Chesapeake Bay.
So to answer your question we're going to have to be in a position in Virginia where
we watch carefully what's going on in Washington and then we're able to make modifications
and at the end of the day we're probably going to need to do more with less.
And and again that's why we need people who are making policy that understand what's going
on in Virginia that have been there and know how to get things done.
I know you supported Medicaid expansion all this time.
Do you realistically, is that something you continue to push for?
Is that something you think is realistic?
I do Laura And you know I think that even some of my Republican friends that I talked
to realize that the Affordable Care Act is going to be here to stay for at least a while.
From a business perspective I remind people Laura and you probably heard me say this before
but any business person which I am I own own our medical practice I'm a part owner.
Any business person that would want to give their competitors five million dollars a day
I would tell him as a neurologist they ought to have their head examined.
So.
So that's kind of where we are.
And from a moral perspective we have 400000 working and I usually underline the word working
Virginians who don't have access to health care coverage right now.
And so that's part of what Medicaid expansion is designed for to give them access.
And when people don't have access to go see a provider they can just be one medical illness
away from financial ruin.
Well obviously you weren't expecting a real primary fight.
yes.
What do you make of that?
Why does someone think there is an opening?
You know we were focused on the general election on November the 7th and and then Tom entered
the race in early January.
And you know we talked when he called me and we're going to be positive about this.
I think this will give Virginians an opportunity to know me a little bit better obviously know
him.
It will help with our name recognition which is very important in the general election.
And so we're going to be positive about this.
There are good things about primaries as you know sometimes it puts people in awkward positions.
But but I think that there is so much energy and so much enthusiasm across Virginia right
now because of the campaign that we watched in 2016.
And so people are coming up wherever we go around the commonwealth and you know what
can I do to get involved.
How can I help what we watched in 2016.
We're not going to accept that it's the new normal.
So I think whoever gets out of the primary and we're confident that we will come out
positively will be in a very good position to run in the general election in November.
And the other thing that I like to emphasize to people across the commonwealth this is
not only important for the governor's race the attorney general and lieutenant governor's
race but with this energy we have a great opportunity this year to pick up a lot of
delegate seats.
And so you know when we go back and talk about the principles and values that are important
to us it's certainly a lot easier when you can play offense and not have to play so much
in defense when you can become proactive rather than reactive so we look forward to 2017 being
a good year for the Democratic Party.
Corey Stewart is clearly running a Trump mini-me and Ed Gillespie is trying to walk a more
narrow line on that, at least so far if you believe polls and maybe you don't, but the
Trump message doesn't seem to be resonating, Gillespie seems to be far ahead.
Do you, find that surprising at all?
I know you weren't a Trump supporter
That's correct.
He did win the primary here in Virginia, do you wonder about that?
Or do you wonder if he ever has any appeal?
I think he touched you know people across the country when when he said he was going
to make America great again and get their jobs back.
And I really think that the more you watch the people across this country were sold a
bill of goods and and a lot of the things that he talked about.
I think he had difficulty telling the truth on some of them which is unfortunate.
And I think there are a lot of things that he said that he just can't he can't deliver
on.
And so his you know his popularity rating is continuing to decline.
The last I saw was I think 37 or 38 percent so.
So there are some I suspect Americans and Virginians in our case that are still on board
with him obviously.
But I think the majority are wondering you know what who did we vote for?
And was that the right thing to do and now we're seeing a lot of voters remorse out there
and again that's why there's so much energy that we see and enthusiasm especially in our
party.
You know sometimes after a presidential election there's complacency and people don't vote
the year after.
But I think you're going to see a different story in November this year.
Now there was a lot of attention paid a few weeks back when you mentioned you had voted
for George W. Bush, can you talk about why you supported him and what you make of the
fact that people were so surprised by that.
Yeah.
You know a New York Times reporter asked me that in an interview and you know my response
to him was that I did vote for Bush and I explained to him that you know back in those
years I was starting my medical practice I was doing a lot of work with our pediatric
hospice.
And and I was uninformed politically.
I didn't pay that much attention I always knew it was a good idea to vote and I encourage
everybody to vote.
Obviously known what I know now, it was the wrong vote.
He doesn't really, he didn't and doesn't stand for the values and principles that I do.
And since I've been in public service for the last 10 years I've been unwavering on
the issues to include access to women's reproductive health care.
And you know responsible gun ownership and environmental issues such as I've always argued
against offshore drilling.
And so I haven't wavered and I think people will realize that it's not that important
who I voted for 17 years ago.
It's what I've stood for and what I've accomplished since I've been in public service.
And the last thing I would say about that Laura, I went to VMI, I was the president
of the honor court, honor is probably the most important thing to me.
And when that journalist asked me that question I could have danced around that issue.
Nobody knew who I voted for in that polling booth or could have not told the truth but
I chose to to tell the truth.
I think people should understand that our leaders need to be honest with people and
that's the kind of leader that I've always been and that I will continue to be as the
next governor in Virginia.
What is your guilty pleasure?
You know I don't know if I'd have a say I have any guilty pleasures but you know having
grown up on the Eastern Shore anything that I can do on the water I love and especially
fishing and I used to do a lot of offshore fishing and I miss that.
I'm also very active physically so I like to run.
I like to ride my bike.
And you know just spend time with my my family and my wife.
Back when you were a boy what did you see yourself wanting to do?
What did you want to be when you grew up?
Yeah you know.
Anything that was fast I liked on the eastern shore whether it was boats.
I mean we use race boats.
My brother and I had a stock car, a race car in high school.
So I'd always wanted to fly jets.
And so when I went to VMI out in Lexington I was in the Navy ROTC and signed up to fly
F-18s.
And after about a year they decided to give me a vision test which was a good idea and
said that you know Northam can see 10 feet in front of the cockpit so you're not going
to be flying the F-18.
And so I became a biology major went to medical school.
And and because the Army had a little bit different path to doing your training and
then giving back as part of your commitment I switched to the army so here I was I grew
up on the water.
I love the water I was going to be in the Navy and I ended up in foxholes.