Congratulations and condolences

2009 Elections, Hampton Roads, Local, Politics, Virginia 1 Minute

The margin was greater than I expected, the result being the loss the number of House seats at the top of the range I anticipated. My congratulations to Gov-elect Bo McDonnell, LG Bill Bolling, and AG-elect Ken Cuccinelli.

My condolences to Creigh Deeds, Jody Wagner and Steve Shannon.

Congratulations to new Democratic House members Luke Torian in the 52nd district and Robin Abbott in the 93rd district.

Special condolences to the Democratic members of the House of Delegates who lost their seats Tuesday:

  • Dan Bowling (3rd)
  • Shannon Valentine (23rd)
  • Dave Poisson (32nd)
  • Margi Vanderhye (34th)
  • Paul Nichols (51st)
  • Chuck Caputo (67th)
  • Joe Bouchard (83rd)

(As of this writing, an 8th seat – Bobby Mathieson (21st) – is behind his Republican challenger by 16 votes, but that race will go to a recount.)

I’ll have my thoughts on the 2009 election up later.

EDIT: Obviously, there are other Democrats – even first timers – who won yesterday. My intention was to congratulate the Democrats who won the seats previously held by Republicans.

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21 thoughts on “Congratulations and condolences”

  1. [golf clap]

    Great job, Dems, great job. Now all that’s left is to watch the Senate Dems roll up and over in the next couple of years (as promised by Cranwell last night).

  3. Let us not overlook New Jersey, in which the incumbent Democrat was defeated; nor Maine, in which gay marriage was defeated.

    Even in NY, the “Republican” dropped out and the Democrat STILL couldn’t muster a majority of the vote.

    1. Are you familiar with New Jersey state politics? I am not. But I have to think that the election there was more a referendum on the sad state of affairs in that state rather than some grand battle over ideology.

      In NY, Democrats won a district that had been held by Republicans for 100 years. Who cares if it wasn’t a majority? I don’t think anyone disputes that this district is still a Republican one. It’s just that Republicans shot themselves in the foot there.

      As to gay marriage, there has yet to be a case, when put to a vote that voters approve. But that fact does not give any clearer indication on how ideology or party affiliation shakes out in the state.

      And your conservatism beats socialism bit below is just the heighth of ridiculousness. This was not a referendum on that. The candidates on the Democratic side don’t even come close to representing socialism. Jon Corzine who ran Goldman Sachs, a socialist, please! And Deeds were certainly nowhere near a socialist. And on the other side, pure conservatism, I don’t think so. As I recall, Bob was portraying himself as a moderate. Even if Republicans are this ideal that you envision, we’ll see how that works out for them with a billion shortfall and the risk of losing federal matching funds for transportation.

      In Virginia, I see this more as Republicans running a better campaign, coming out of an easy nomination process, having a superior cash advantage, and their base being far more excited about it. Turnout was low though. So, does this demonstrate some sea change from 2008? I think not. The folks who voted for McCain in 2008 showed up to the polls in 2009. The folks who voted for Obama didn’t.

      2. Deeds got 970,563 votes in 2005. In 2009, he got only 815,350. The people who voted for DEEDS didn’t come out to vote for him this time.

        Yes, I have some passing familiarity with NJ politics. My grandfather was born in Perth Amboy, and I have several relative living in the Cape May area now.

        Finally, gay marriage is ALL about ideology.

        1. On your first point, 6 of one half a dozen of the other. You are saying the same thing I did.

          Okay, so was NJ a national referendum or one on the state of their State?

          Got me there, you can parse ideology a number of ways.

  4. There is a groundswell of resentment of the Obama Administration. I don’t think that Mr. Deeds could have overcome the trends, nor could Terry McAuliffe done any better.

    People are angry. They are sick of bad news and uncertainty about their future. Mr. Obama is trying, but the citizens are just impatient.

    Virginians have apparently forgotten how the Bush regime spent us into this hole, nor do they recall that they team that they elected yesterday did absolutely NOTHING to create jobs or enhance our LIBERTY during their collective prior terms of office.

    But, this is a time for Virginians to do what we have famously done since our founding days, and that is to come together and work together on those areas where we have common ground.

    I have been asking members of our Assembly, from both sides, to push for campaign finance reforms that will restore the representative relationship with the citizens and eliminate the corrupting influence of corporate and PAC funding.

    Please write to your reps and offer your constructive ideas.

    Here’s a sample:

    As we now have it in Virginia, corporations, PACs and citizens who do not even reside in a particular district can give money to a candidate.

    If we want the voices of the citizens of each district to be more clearly heard, we must take the following steps:

    1. Eliminate corporate contributions. Corporations are profit making entities whose by-laws mandate that they expend money only with the expectation of a return on that investment. This is perceived by the citizens as corruption.

    2. Eliminate PAC contributions.

    3. Restrict contributions to come only from citizens whose PRIMARY residence is within the district.

    4. Cap the amount to the federal limit for an individual contribution.

    These reforms will amplify the voices of the citizens who reside in the respective districts, and restore the representative relationship between our elected officials and the citizens who reside in their areas of representation.

    Campaign finance reform will enhance the ability of the individual citizen to be heard.

  5. just an update, the democratic candidate won in upstate ny. all special elections in the last few years have been won by dems.
    deeds campaign never caught fire. how in the world did he win the primary? cross over repubs??

    1. Quite possibly. Of the three candidates, Deeds was by far the most palatable. I voted for him in the primary, and I voted for him four years ago in the general election.

      Our open primaries give us moderate candidates. I fully expected Deeds to make a far better run than he did. Since he was a state senator from a rural area, I expected him to do well in the rural areas. Since he was a Democrat, I expected him to do well in the urban areas. In fact, when he won the primary, I gave him even chances to win the general election. But I was more willing to take a 50% probability of “Governor Deeds” than a 30% probability of “Governor McAuliffe” or “Governor Moran,” so I voted for Deeds.

      But it was not just Deeds’ campaigning on the wrong issues. The LG and AG candidates did not attack their opponent’s graduate theses, yet they, too, were crushed. Corzine was beaten in NJ, too. Even in NY, when the “Republican” dropped out, the Democrat still could not get a majority of the votes. Gay Marriage was vetoed by the voters of Maine.

      Conservatism won yesterday, and socialism lost.

  6. The private sector should be esponsible for creating jobs, not the government. Government should be responsible for creating an environment in reach business can prosper. Congrats to the citizens of Maine for voting for how they want marriage to be recognized and not allowing a selected few to decide for them. I am looking forward to the 2010 mid-term elections.

    1. Agreed. I think the best way that can be accomplished is in infrastructure spending. (No, Mr. President, not high-speed rail, but cargo rail.)

  7. I am sorry, but after this loss, I don’t think citizens are concerned about campaign finance reform. Last nights victory was a vote on jobs, no new taxes, and the economy. The Democrats did not offer a clear plan. Sorry, but PAC’s didn’t controll the election,the voters sent the clear message last night, not money!

    1. Well, with Corzine outspending Cristie 20:1, and still losing, we can conclude that money isn’t everything. Yet the left laments all the out-of-state money spent in Maine to defeat gay marriage.

      I have proposed changes similar to those Tyler posted. Essentially, we would limit campaign contributions so that only voters registered for the election in question may contribute to candidates for that election. Our hostess does not like that idea.

  8. With all of the Federal Money that the 2nd district that I live in gets, we will always just be comfortably numb. It doesn’t matter if you are a dem or repub things will just “mosey on” as they always have. The second district in Virginia Beach will never be anything but support staff to the Military presence. Big box stores and lots of junk food restaurants. No political candidates with the cajones to stand up for our civilian needs. Snore!!! It is what it is. We keep on doing what we do, Surprise, we keep on getting what we get. Thanks all you moderate Owen Pickett democrats and Pat Robertson Republicans. No chance to dream big. Just more of the same.

      1. Viv, I don’t forget you. If it weren’t for you, I’d have no where to go to be informed in our local arena. I forgot to include Norfolk because of my outside yard work and having my brains scrambled by excessive jet noise today.

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