The derailed economy is driving much of the talk in the race for Virginia's top offices.

Jody Wagner (D) is touring the Valley in her race to unseat Republican Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling this fall. She's pitching ways to turn Virginia's economy around.

"We've got a lot of plans on the table. We've got to put the resources behind them and get them done," says Wagner.

She served as secretary of finance under Democratic Gov. Tim Kaine. She's watched Virginia make deep cuts after revenues fell below projections affecting everything, including transportation.

"Well, keep in mind that you've got a global economic tsunami that nobody foresaw. I mean, not only has Virginia missed and has a shortfall, but there are 48 other states that have shortfalls," says Wagner.

On Friday, Bolling came through the Valley and spoke about a few plans for spurring Virginia's economy.

Among those plans, he says, "We need a specific focus on rural economic development."

As for transportation, he wants to explore tolls and public/private transportation projects. He also wants to set aside part of future revenue growth for transportation purposes. Different regions need different fixes.

"The reasons that a business may want to come to rural parts of our state may be very different from the reasons businesses want to locate in Northern Virginia, Hampton Roads or Richmond," says Bolling.

When asked for concrete proposals on how to improve the transportation situation, Wagner says, "We've had a lot of proposals through the years. I've been part of the Kaine administration. We had five different sets of proposals. And, we've got to do what's viable and what we can get through the General Assembly."

As for the rest area closures on interstates, Wagner says Kaine has to balance the budget and there are "a lot of sacrifices that we have to make at times like this."