50 out of 140

2011 Elections, Hampton Roads, Local, Politics, Virginia 1 Minute

That’s the number of contested seats in the legislature this fall: 26 in the 100-member House of Delegates and 24 in the 40-member Senate.

This is what happens when districts are drawn in such a way as to not be competitive. And of the 50 contested races, how many will be competitive? Maybe 10?

Hate to sound like a broken record but the legislature should not be drawing the districts. Period. And incumbent protection should not be a part of redistricting.

Pathetic.

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14 thoughts on “50 out of 140”

  1. It’s not just redistricting. It’s the overwhelming advantage incumbents have when corporations can give as much money as they please (and corporations follow power.) It’s the overwhelming sacrifice a challenger makes for a part-time job. Clamping down on campaign finance and switching to a full-time legislature will open up running for office beyond the rich and lucky few with jobs they can leave for three months at a time.

  2. Dont agree about a full-time legislature. Do agree about redistricting. In some of the districts, the primary is really the only election that matters. This will also mean that the ten races that are competitive will be ridiculously expensive, because both sides will have more money than races to spend it on.

  3. I second everything Vivian said. I agree with most of what Steve said as well. I am torn about the full time legislature. Having full time professional politicians deciding to constantly write more laws regulating economic and personal behavior is the serious danger of a full time legislature. Then again, the part time job ensures a limited crop of individuals willing and capable to handle the job.

    1. My issue is that the pool of people who can run for a part time job is limited. Back when everyone was a farmer, holding sessions between planting seasons made sense. How many farmers are there in the GA now? So we have limited the pool of potential candidates to those who have money or access to it, and those who can miss 45-60 days a year from work. I hate that.

  4. I don’t know if there would be an upside to a full time legislature. It could well be you would have to many pols with to little to do. Then they would get the urge to regulate industries where they have little or no expertice. This means these elected officials would be even more devoted to raising money from big corpoations, big enviroment, unions, and all other type of groups with dollors to hand out.

  5. While I hate the limitations of a part time legislature, I think I would hate the problems of a full time one more. Look to the north, DC, and see what a full time legislature is. I don’t think it is less dysfunctional than our state’s governing body. I think having people who depend on legislating for bill paying brings a whole different and, IMHO, worse set of issues.

  6. Our part-time legislature already regulates industries with which they have no expertise. The lobbyists have the expertise and they already write the laws that the legislators pass. Case in point: pay day lending. Or how about uranium mining.

    As for looking to how others have done it – it seems to me that we could learn from those mistakes and do a better job.

    One of the reasons Phil Hamilton is going to jail for 9 1/2 years is because he needed to earn a living, in addition to being a legislator. It was a $40K per year job, not a $400K per year job.

  7. Aside from redistricting, an overhaul of campaign finance laws is in order. Right now, the competitive races become slugfests between the parties, since they’re able to funnel hundreds of thousands of dollars of their money into the campaigns, either directly or through in-kinds. Instituting limits on campaign contributions (only three other states currently have no limits on contributions) combined with a public financing system like the ones implemented in Maine, Connecticut, or Arizona would reduce the influence that the mega-rich, businesses, and special interest groups who fund campaigns currently have.

  8. The new 22nd district could easily be a pickup for the Democrats.Bert Dodson who is a moderate Democrat that has created jobs is running against a right wing nut.Tom Garrett who has been endorsed by Cooch and the radicals of the Tea party.Democrats should focus on this race alot of Republicans are scared of Tom Garrett and with good reason.If you think Bob Marshall and Cooch are crazy just let Tom Garrett get elected you will see a complete nut job in action.

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