Virginia Votes – So Votes the Nation?
By Denise Best | Related entries in Elections, In The NewsA sign of things to come in the 2006 and 2008 elections?
Virginians elected Democrat Timothy M. Kaine yesterday as the state’s next governor, choosing him to continue the centrist legacy of popular Gov. Mark R. Warner (D) and rejecting the Republican candidate for the state’s top job a second time in four years.
Kaine, 47, emerged ahead of his Republican rival, former attorney general Jerry W. Kilgore, 44, who had worked for months to convince voters that Kaine was too liberal for the conservative state. Sen. H. Russell Potts Jr. (R-Winchester), who ran as an independent, trailed far behind the major-party candidates
Looks like the pendulum is swinging back toward the “left.”
Or is swinging away from the “right” a more accurate description?
Democrats’ easy successes did not extend to the other statewide races. Republican state Sen. William T. “Bill” Bolling of Hanover County won the lieutenant governor’s race against Democrat Leslie L. Byrne of Fairfax County, the only statewide candidate from populous Northern Virginia. Republican Del. Robert F. “Bob” McDonnell of Virginia Beach and Democrat R. Creigh Deeds of Bath County remained in a tight race for attorney general
There’s discontent with current political leadership and direction, which is in turn being exhibited, to varying degrees, within the latest election results.
Will there be a viable Third Party alternative ready to break out onto the political stage for the next major election go round?
This entry was posted on Wednesday, November 9th, 2005 and is filed under Elections, In The News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
November 9th, 2005 at 9:48 am
Bingo. It’s moving inward (less polarized) and whichever politicians can best capture that spirit with message and attitude will win.
November 9th, 2005 at 9:53 am
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November 9th, 2005 at 9:55 am
Denise- there was a centrist candidate in the Va governor’s race- Potts. He came in with a whopping 2% of the vote. As for the swing back toward the left- it will happen in 06 if things remain constant. This mini-election didn’t provide much of a national indicator, given that Va had an incumbent and popular Dem gov. It was decidely local in flavor.
November 9th, 2005 at 10:11 am
I agree that I don’t think this is that much of an indication of a national trend. Kaine carried the further suburbs of Northern Virginia, which is significantly different than past elections. But kreiz is correct in pointing out that Kaine is riding the coattails of Gov. Warner, who has a roughly 70% approval rating. Kaine got nowhere near that.
More importantly, I think, this election turned on the negative campaign Kilgore ran. He attacked Kaine for his death penalty stance, skewing the facts horribly. Politicians playing fast and dirty with facts is nothing new, but the Kilgore’s campaign didn’t attempt even a dose of subtlety. Very off-putting and a deciding factor for many, including me. President Bush’s approval contributed, but I don’t think Virginia is a strong sign. More of a faint warning to Republicans for 2006 and beyond.
November 9th, 2005 at 1:44 pm
Reminds me of a Republican candidate running against Fritz Hollings in South Carolina back in the 90s. A totally negative campaign, with no ideas. I hated Fritz, but voted for him anyway based on the campaign his rival was running.
The difference there was that most of the things said about Fritz were true while they weren’t in this race. Still, going too negative can really turn off voters. If I were a resident of Virginia, I probably would have voted for Kaine as well.