Democrats in Hampton Roads have a lot to be proud of. With a lot of hard work, two incumbent Republican senators were toppled as were two incumbent Republican delegates.
First, my condolences to those who were not successful in Hampton Roads tonight: Bob MacIver, Mick Meyer, Troy Farlow and Steve Heretick. Thanks to all of you for running tough races in difficult districts.
Congratulations to Paula Miller, who won a convincing re-election victory in the 87th. She beat back a credible opponent in Hank Giffin.
Three of the winners are first-time candidates: Senator-elect Ralph Northam (6th) Delegate-elect Joe Bouchard (83rd), and Delegate-elect Bobby Mathieson (21st). Congratulations, guys.
Senator-elect John Miller (1st) got into the race late but ran a great campaign. Congratulations on a tremendous win.
Hampton Roads delivered two of the four Senate seats needed for Democrats to retake the majority and two of the 11 House seats needed. As the results in some of the other races are not yet completely tallied, I don’t know exactly how the numbers are going to play out. But Hampton Roads did its part.
Give yourselves a big round of applause!
VIVIAN J. PAIGE | All Politics is Local 
Clap, clap, clap, clap, clap…
Tom Gear failed to deliver his home precinct in Hampton for his wacky protegee the equally nutty Stall. It all came down o Hampton and the Senate was denied a “second gear”.
Whoops Tom, what up with that!
It was only the second time in 11 years that I’ve voted for a Democrat, but I voted for Joe Bouchard. He won my home Aragona Precinct with 56% of the vote.
I could not agree more “Hampton Roads did its part” … and you and your site played a positive role in each of those Democratic victories last night too Vivian … Thank You!
Good riddance to Rerras. Good government comes to the 6th. Congratulations Ralph!
Awesome job Viv and the Hampton Roads Democrats!!!
Tonight was a huge validation for me and everyone else who’s been saying for years now that Northern Virginia is only half the story when it comes to Democratic successes in the Old Dominion. Hampton Roads is the only region in the Commonwealth where we won just about every single competitive race.
I want to throw a freaking parade for you guys. Way to go.
Not terribly surprising, since Hampton Roads does have the lowest HS graduation rate in the state.
Good idea, Mouse. You should go tell the voters they’re stupid. That would clear a lot of things up for them, and they will appreciate you for it. That’s why we Democrats get such great results with the whole “Ivy League intellectual elitist” thing.
Oh, you should also tell them they’re ugly and smell funny.
Anon E. Mouse,
According to the Joint Forces Command:
“The Hampton Roads area is home to one of the nation’s largest concentrations of military personnel, with approximately 110,000 active duty military personnel. The total DoD population, including active duty, reserve, retirees and family members totals approximately 300,000 in an area with a total population of 1.8 million.”
I can tell you that I worked open to close at a Norfolk precinct, and I spoke with many of the voters. I lost count how many were active duty or retired Navy. And that precinct went overwhelmingly for Paula Miller & Ralph Northam.
Mr. Mouse, why do you disrespect our troops? Why do you call them stupid?
What is so surprising, and maybe its not, but Republicans WILL BLAME EVERYONE BUT THEMSELVES!
They had the power and blew it!
1-State budget increased by 125% under them
2-regional unelected, unaccoutable taxing authorities
3-two biggest tax increases in Virginia history
4-oh yeah, I’ve still got my car tax and its gone up!
Now lets see the Democrats do a better job.
Man, you guys are such sore winners. It is a known fact that as one’s education level goes up, so does one’s tendency to vote Republican, until one reaches the Ph.D. level (at which point many are dependent upon government largess for their employment). The development of the prefrontal cortex through one’s 40’s, and it’s decay later in life, have similar consequences on voting patterns.
Of course, a great many military personnel keep their legal residence in another state. Florida is a particular favorite for pilots, for income tax purposes. I suspect that the military were more likely to vote Republican, anyway, but were outnumbered.
I have also seen that Republicans are more likely to vote the candidate than the party. (This is why Vivian wants the party affiliations on the ballots — for those who did not do their homework but vote anyway.) For instance, my love and I researched the positions of the candidates for the school board, and made our decisions. When we got to the polls, NONE of our choices were on the Republican Party’s “Sample Ballot.” We also voted for the Democratic Council Chairman. We have seen him in action, and he has favorably impressed us.
On the other hand, we did not vote for either House or Senate race, as neither candidate had an opponent. I do not even vote for unopposed Republicans — it reminds me too much of the “elections” in the old CCCP.
Talk the talk, now it is time to walk the walk ‘ full metal jacket ‘
I think Sheriff’s Deputies and police officers also had a lot to do with Democratic victories. Want to heap some ridicule on them, too, Mouse?
“It is a known fact that as one’s education level goes up, so does one’s tendency to vote Republican–”
Bzzzzt. I’m sorry, that answer is incorrect. There is a wealth of studies demonstrating that higher education on its face will lead a voter to be more likely to vote for Democrats. There are a wide number of factors that can influence voting patterns–for instance, people with undergraduate and graduate degrees tend to make more money than people who don’t have those degrees, and higher income levels can sometimes lead people to adopt a more fiscal-conservative outlook on economic matters (though, of course, not always). So 60-year-olds who have MBAs and make more than $100,000 a year may be more likely to vote Republican. But it’s not because they went to college. Generally speaking, students in college are more likely to self-identify as Democrats as opposed to Republicans, and that trend will hold true for the first several years after they graduate.
This is also supported by a wealth of consumer data. For instance, after Bill O’Reilly accused Jon Stewart of pandering to the “dumb unemployed stoner” demographic to influence elections, Comedy Central released audience tracking data that revealed that folks who watched the Daily Show had substantially higher educational levels than the viewership of The O’Reilly Factor. Or any other show on Fox News, for that matter.
If I had to guess, your gut instinct that educated people are more likely to be Republicans unless they have PhDs is based on the stereotype that “successful” people are Republicans, whereas you think Democrats are socialists who tend to attract uneducated minorities, welfare recipients, and union members who work at jobs where they have their names on their shirts. Frankly, being prejudiced against minorities, poor people and people who work for a living is *tremendously* unattractive, but on the other hand, it’s been pretty clear to all of us for a while now that you don’t know a thing about the Democratic Party, so I doubt anyone is particularly surprised.