Wednesday, June 13, 2007

Virginia Politics


So, yesterday was primary day in Virginia...I am an election geek, so I went to vote for the only "contest" in my county...the Democratic primary for County Treasurer. Not much of a contest...the incumbent won with more than 73% of the vote, with a 4.5% voter turnout. Well, at least he had a challenger...

News was a little more interesting around the state though - and November's elections should be good. I'm not sure I can imagine the Democrats in control of the Virginia Senate - we need to pick up 21 seats - but it's great to have a goal (and some actual competition in the state)!

Here's the quick recap from the Washington Post:

Two moderate Republican incumbents lost to conservative challengers who accused the sitting senators of having morphed into big spenders just like the party's now widely disliked standard-bearer, the president of these United States. Martin Williams of Newport News and Brandon Bell of Roanoke are gone goodbye, and while hard core Republicans will celebrate this as a reassertion of the party's pre-Mark Warner-Tim Kaine era commitment to chopping spending and eschewing taxes, plenty of Democrats will also be cheered by these results. That's because Kaine and the Dems had already planned to make this fall's campaign--the entire Virginia legislature is up for election in November--about how the Republicans are supposedly so far to the right that the state needs to push the Senate over to the D side to provide safety and balance. These primary results will only strengthen the Dems' hand--not necessarily in those firmly Republican districts, but elsewhere around the state where the party split is closer.

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