Roanoke Valley voters in the 17th House District must choose between two markedly different candidates trying to claim the moderate middle ground in a fight for an open seat created when Del. William Fralin decided not to run.

Only one, Democrat Gwen Mason, makes a credible case. We endorse her for delegate to represent parts of Roanoke and of Roanoke and Botetourt counties.

As a Roanoke city councilwoman, Mason has shown a willingness to apply the budget-cutting ax in hard economic times: She was one of two council members to oppose keeping a downtown amphitheater in the cash-strapped city's five-year spending plan.

In her bid for state office, Mason talks about applying fiscal discipline even in good economic times, resisting growth in government and encouraging it among small businesses.

Voters in the tax-averse 17th District must weigh that philosophy against her willingness to support raising revenue to salvage the state's overwhelmed and deteriorating transportation system, which reason suggests will include some kind of tax increase.

In that, she occupies a sensible middle ground once held by moderate Republicans, a threatened species in Richmond, where no-tax pledges have become an initiation rite for a Grand Old Party on an ideological bender.

Republican candidate Bill Cleaveland is a case in point.

Cleaveland acknowledges that transportation is a major issue and an expensive one that won't be easy to address. He told The Roanoke Times editorial board, "We need to make it clear to the public how serious it is if we don't start to address it with some money."

This is progress within a party that for years assured rural Virginians the state had plenty of money for transportation if it'd simply spend it well.

Yet Cleaveland also said he has taken the litmus-test oath for conservatives, a no-tax increase pledge -- but only after being assured that it was for one term only, while the economy is in a crisis state.

Unfortunately, the GOP's transportation funding alternatives, to which he subscribes, are like fairy dust, magic that promises to create gain without pain, and dissolves on clear-eyed inspection.

Cleaveland, who is a lawyer, leans heavily on his ability to mediate solutions and his insistence on having all the facts and options before him before arriving at a conclusion (except, of course, on taxes) to recommend him for office.

We fear he has mistaken an even temperament for political moderation.

Mason has a record in the city of strong support for education and as a leader in starting Roanoke's Clean and Green Business Coalition.

She promises to go to Richmond as a pragmatist ready to make tough choices to position Virginia for a strong economic rebound when the recession eases its grip.

We recommend Mason for delegate in the 17th House District.