“Regardless of what happens in December, the pipeline issue isn’t going away,” Town said. “And the challenges to it are going to continue into the future.”

Northam has said the pipelines should be built according to science and the best judgments of regulatory agencies but has faced protests from environmentalists who want them stopped. Of the three Democrats running for statewide office, only Fairfax has come out against the pipelines.

“Elections are binary,” Town said. “There’s two legitimate candidates for governor. One is for the pipeline. The other is Ralph. I think it’s obvious Ralph would be a better steward of the environment than Gillespie.”

Though the league opposes the pipeline projects, which opponents fear will carve through landslide-prone mountain terrain and private property, risking damage to aquifers and streams, to provide sources of gas that aren’t needed, there are other issues the next governor will grapple with, Town said.