Democrats Capture Control of Virginia Senate

[lanlady]

Source: Washington Post

Democrats wrested control of the Senate from the Republicans in yesterday's legislative elections, picking up the four seats they needed to give them a majority of at least 21 to 19 and end a decade of GOP dominance in the chamber.

Gov. Timothy M. Kaine (D) claimed victory in a celebration at Tysons Corner. The Republicans retained control of the House, but the Democrats also gained seats there. The party's surge will help the governor advance much of his agenda during his last two years in office, including investing more in education, health and the environment.

Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/20...

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I woke up to happy news this morning -- Kaine's a rock star, and Virginia's going blue! What a tremendous repudiation of the Rethuglicans' scare tactics in this state. Way to go VA!!

[pokercat999]

1. Who controls re-districting in VA? After the next

census will the GOP House have the power to "fix" the next election through re-districting?

[lanlady]

2. I don't know

but I'd like to think that the Repugs wouldn't dare try it in (increasingly Democratic) No. Va. Too many high-powered lawyers live here.

[Lasher]

18. The Virginia Senate and House control redistricting

And this was the last Senate election before redistricting will occur.

Hooray again for my fellow Democrats in the other Virginia!!

[yellowcanine]

23. But Dems have another shot at capturing the house in 2009. I am guessing redistricting occurs in

the 2011 session as it would have to be after the 2010 census.

[Lasher]

28. Yes that is correct

And this comes after a controversial GOP orchestrated gerrymandering after the last census. I hope that we can take control of the Virginia House before 2011 but even if we don't we are assured that the Virginia Senate can block any Tom DeLay style redistricting attempts. Make no mistake, the Virginia Senate win is significant for this one reason alone, but for others as well.

I've gotta tell ya, I'm feelin' more proud of Virginia Democrats as time goes by. The rest of us should want to be just like them when we grow up.

Lasher

[Judi Lynn]

3. Amazing news. Thanks, so much. n/t

[aquart]

4. BBC was calling Virginia a swing state today.

[Kolesar]

5. It is the professional women in the DC metropolitan area who are the Democratic voting block there

...in "Northern Virginia". There are a lot of women who work for the federal government.

[Virginia Dare]

13. They threw that fake "moderate/liberal" republican Devolites Davis out too..

wonderful news all around...

[aquart]

29. There's a lot of military, too, right?

And they don't like Georgie.

[Kolesar]

30. There is a voting block that has certainly shifted to the Democrats!

I am sure there are still a lot of republican zealots in the military, though. Especially in the officer corps

[jzodda]

6. Good news

and thank you Northern Virginia. Virginia turning more blue is a very very good sign for the longterm. Thats a big state

[SquireJons]

7. I wouldn't call VA a swing state...

... so much as a canary in the coal mine. I have lived in VA all of my life, and the mind set of the people hasn't changed very much at all in my 46 years. Virginia likes to elect moderate republicans and conservative democrats. Hence, we have John Warner and Jim Webb. Even though we were saddled with Allen for quite a while as governor and senator, he did that by lying. I even voted for him for governor after hearing him speak. He repudiated divisive politics and preached moderation... during the election. Then he turned into the most right wing hack out there. So we dumped him.

Mark Warner fits the mold very well. He will be our next senator, replacing John Warner. But it ends there, most likely. Virginia will not become a blue state, in the truest sense of the word. It will remain in the middle, where it has been since well before the civil war. Remember, VA was one of the last states to leave the union, and many didn't think it would happen. That's just the way we are... squarely in the middle.

But what about Kaine? He is not squarely in the middle, he's a liberal. I like him, although he really isn't that effective. Of course, having the legislature controlled by republicans is going to influence that, but Warner had the same problem and he overcame it. Kaine could not, because he has very little base here in the state. He won only because Warner was so popular. I don't think Kaine can do much more after he leaves office... maybe a congressman in the House of Reps, but probably not statewide.

So, what does this say about Virginia? It says that we reflect the mood of the country, which is anti-republican right now. As long as the Democrats offer moderate candidates, who hammer away at the most unpopular policies of the * administration, then they will win. If they over reach, they can still lose. The key now is to act in a disciplined, responsible manner, addressing the serious concerns of the majority of the people. If they do that, then the Democrats will be rewarded with a generation of political good will, if not, then Virginia will probably turn to the republicans. There was a time when Virginia had some of the most liberal republicans in the country, like former republican governor Linwood Holton Jr., who also happens to be Tim Kaine’s father-in-law.

Clear as mud, right?

[lanlady]

9. on the whole I agree with you

But I think the rapidly changing demographics of No. Va. needs to be taken into account. When I first moved here 14 years ago, a place like Manassas was known for being a low-educated "white trash" haven (Lorena Bobbitt country). Now it's much more prosperous and diverse. My own locality, Woodbridge, is also starting to pull in more affluent residents. The trailer parks are disappearing. Spanish speakers are everywhere, and those who have the right to vote are probably trending Democratic because of the GOP's anti-immigrant rhetoric. All of this augurs well for the Democratic Party's prospects in this part of the state.

[Virginia Dare]

14. Moderate repubs in Virginia have been scarce of late..

I think this is a real backlash against the extremists that have been controlling Virginia for a while now.

[Doctor_J]

8. Say hello to Senator JOHN Warner

hopefully he will vote Democratic in the Senate.

[lanlady]

10. don't you mean MARK Warner?

n/t

[Le Taz Hot]

12. Thank you.

I'm 3,000 miles away and I was getting confused.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

27. no problem

Even the bumper stickers said "Mark not John."

[Doctor_J]

20. Oops. Thanks

[underpants]

11. YES!!! Oh and check out how the Times-Dispatch handled it

BIG picture of Chap Peterson on the front page ( he BEAT Tom Davis's slimey wife)

but the first headline is about Loupassi (former Richmond city Councilman) BEATING Waddell (she surprisingly beat up-and-coming bloated goodoldboy Maars two years ago) Loupassi is a Republican. THEN there is analysis. Note how Dems DECLARE victory but everything Republican is WON or BEAT



Democrats declare control of Virginia Senate

http://www.inrich.com/cva/ric/home.html

http://www.inrich.com/cva/ric/news/politics.apx.-conten...

[Virginia Dare]

15. I hate that RAG!

cheers to you underpants, it's a great day here in the Commonwealth!..

[underpants]

16. :-)

I didn't do anything which is alarming as this has become a trend.

'04 my wife and I throw ourselves full throttle into the Kerry campaign going from stuffing envelopes to running a call center within 2 months

'05 Appeared in a ad for Kaine. That was it

'06 did NOTHING for the Webb campaign

'07 did NOTHING (trianing for marathon)


Can you see a trend?

[Virginia Dare]

17. I hear you!

I pretty much sat this one out too, although as I posted earlier it was extremely emotionally uplifting to me to see Dick Saslaw standing there as the new majority leader of the senate. His was the first campaign I ever worked on way back in high school, and I've been hooked ever since

My support in the Presidential primaries is the kiss of death for any candidate, so maybe I'll donate to Hillary and see what happens!

[Xenotime]

19. First thing they need to do is get guns out of VA

[benEzra]

21. Considering how many Dems and indies own guns in VA...

First thing they need to do is get guns out of VA

Considering how many Dems and indies own guns in VA, doing so would be the fastest way I can think of to hand control of the state back to the repubs.

Don't forget that most of the Dems in the VA legislature are pro-choice on guns, and Jim Webb wouldn't have won turned the open VA senate seat blue in '06 had he not been pro-choice on the issue as well.


----------------------
Dems and the Gun Issue - Now What? (written in '04, largely vindicated in '06, IMO)

[lynne]

26. Ohhhhh . . . I don't think so -

- unless you want Virginia to turn Blood Red. No pun intended.

[UpInArms]

22. Democrats find success in once-conservative Virginia

Source: Reuters

WASHINGTON, Nov 7 (Reuters) - The former conservative stronghold state of Virginia could help a Democrat win the White House next year, experts said on Wednesday after voters handed control of the state Senate to Democrats.

Dissatisfaction with Republican President George W. Bush trumped concerns over illegal immigration, analysts said, as Democrats picked up four seats to win a 21-18 majority in the state Senate after a decade of Republican control.

Democrats also picked up three seats in the state House of Delegates, although Republicans still control 54 of that chamber's 100 seats.

The election comes on the heels of other recent Democratic successes in Virginia, as an influx of liberal-leaning voters into the Washington suburbs has transformed the balance of power in the state over the past decade.

Tim Kaine is the second Democrat in a row to occupy the governor's mansion and last year Democratic Senate candidate Jim Webb narrowly defeated incumbent Republican George Allen, handing control of the U.S. Congress to Democrats.

Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/bondsNews/idUSN075383512...

[underpants]

25. and the press around here refuses to admit it

The local news behemoth NBC station barely covers this and when they do they have on Larry Sabato to try desperately to hold onto the status quo (or whomever is kicking money down to his organization)

[mtnester]

24. Kentucky....Virginia

tick tock tick tock

I hope our CURRENT Dems inside the beltway are taking notice.

My favorite right now is this little gem:

"GOP state senator Jeannemarie Devolites Davis (the wife of GOP Rep. Tom Davis) gets shellacked by Chap Petersen, and only wins five precincts (out of 47) in her Fairfax County district."...CBS news


Shellacked...lovely word.