Free Republic

After losing Virginia's governorship for the first time in eight years, some Democrats are trying to console themselves that Virginia is at its core a "red" state. This ignores not only that they won back-to-back governorships but also that Democrats defeated a sitting senator in 2006, took control of the state Senate in 2007 and won an open Republican Senate seat and three House seats in 2008 while carrying Virginia's electoral college votes for the first time since 1964. Some in the White House are trying to deflect blame for the defeat by saying that Sen. Creigh Deeds lost because...

In an RV swing through Northern Virginia in late August, there wasn't really time for Robert F. McDonnell, the Republican candidate for governor, to stop in West Springfield. But an urgent memo awaited from his senior advisers in Richmond...A 20-year-old academic thesis -- in which McDonnell had presented a deeply conservative vision of government and criticized working women, single mothers and homosexuals -- had surfaced. McDonnell needed to sign off on the campaign's response, and then he needed to race to a rally...That moment brought the greatest test of McDonnell's disciplined campaign. Would he be able to maintain his focus...

As the final votes were being counted, it was possible to draw some lessons from Republican Bob McDonnell's victory in Virginia and the close, three-way governor's race in New Jersey, never mind that White House press secretary Robert Gibbs has taken to saying that the elections don't mean much. The odd-year elections -- held in the first year of a presidency -- have been meaningful over the last two decades. In 1993, New Jersey voters rejected tax-raising Democratic Gov. James Florio, despite the best efforts of Bill Clinton's consultant James Carville -- a harbinger of the losses congressional Democrats suffered...

*break* Bob McDonnell yesterday announced his transition committee leaders, including Tom Farrell, chairman and CEO of the state's largest utility, Dominion Resources. The transition committee also will include Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling; Attorney General Bill Mims; Bobbie Kilberg, president of the Northern Virginia Technology Council; and Kay Coles James, a Cabinet official under Gov. George Allen. *break* James, who served as director for the Office of Personnel Management under President George W. Bush, also is a former dean of the Robertson School of Government at Regent University in Virginia Beach, where McDonnell received his law degree. *break* He said the...

My Wednesday Examiner column, written as the 2009 election returns were coming in, stands up pretty well. But let me add some observations written as the course of the elections became clearer. First, in the governor elections in Virginia and New Jersey, the Democratic candidate ran far behind Barack Obama’s percentages in 2008 and the Republican candidates ran ahead of George W. Bush’s percentages in 2004. The numbers are pretty daunting. In Virginia Creigh Deeds won 41% of the votes, way behind Barack Obama’s 53% in 2008. And in New Jersey Democratic incumbent Jon Corzine won 45% of the votes,...

ELECTION 2009: CHANGE I CAN BELIEVE IN! -- MSNBC, Aug. 31, 2009, Keith Olbermann on Robert F. McDonnell, Republican candidate for governor of Virginia: "In [McDonnell's master's thesis], he described women having jobs as detrimental to the family, called legalized use of contraception illogical, pushed to make divorce more difficult, and insisted government should favor married couples over, quote, 'cohabitators, homosexuals or fornicators.' Wow. When did he write this? 1875? No, 1989. Wow, 1989. "Goodbye, Mr. McDonnell." -- MSNBC, Sept. 22, 2009, Rachel Maddow also on McDonnell: "And here's where the conservative movement and the Republican establishment smash into each...

Unsurprisingly, Michael Barone has an interesting and incisive roundup of numbers from last night that go deeper than the top-line results. Some nuggets: * Bergen County, New Jersey, a 56%-42% Corzine constituency in 2005, came within a point or two of voting for Christie. * Westchester County, New York, voted 58%-42% for a Republican county executive after voting almost exactly the opposite way, in a race involving the same two candidates, four years before. * The Virginia Board of Elections has results by CD showing that three Dems who captured seats in 2008 by very narrow margins (the 2nd, 5th,...

Most House Democrats tried to put a good face on Tuesday's election results, saying they picked up two more votes for a sweeping health care bill that could be on the floor as early as Friday. But it can't make it any easier for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi as she works to corral the last holdouts she needs to pass legislation overhauling the nation’s health care system. Of course, the speaker, who told POLITICO recently she's "not big on showing weakness," brushed aside questions about how the Democratic gubernatorial losses in Virginia and New Jersey would impact her final tally...

Today, national Democrats are trying their best to dismiss missing limbs as flesh wounds. It is their job. But they are in deep trouble if they believe their own spin. Compared to 12 months ago, 24 percent more Virginians voted Republican at the top of the ticket. Independents broke decisively against Democrats in Virginia and New Jersey. If this is not a backlash against Democrats, then who, exactly, was being lashed? These losses, for the most part, don’t seem to be a personal repudiation of the president. But they highlight a political fact -- the political fact of the last...

RICHMOND, Va. - Last year, 23-year-old Rashida Hill watched the presidential debates, visited the college political party meetings and put a Barack Obama bumper sticker on her townhouse door. She voted for Obama because she felt like the election was about "being a part of something." But on Tuesday, the Virginia Commonwealth University student didn't bother voting in the governor's race because, she said, the candidates didn't give her anything to get excited about. "The simple fact is, unless you put it in front of somebody, they're really not going to seek it out," Hill said. Many of the young,...

Republicans increased their majority in the Virginia House of Delegates in Tuesday's election by picking up at least five seats -- stanching a recent Democratic tide in the state's lower chamber. The GOP also made inroads into a handful of seats representing the Washington suburbs, including the 34th District, comprised of part of Fairfax County. Republican Barbara Comstock defeated Democratic incumbent Margi Vanderhye in the race for that seat by the razor-thin margin of 50.6 percent to 49.2 percent. Meanwhile, Republican Scott Garrett nipped incumbent Democrat Shannon Valentine in Lynchburg, 50.5 percent to 49.5 percent, with the race called by...

Previous: George Allen: with 58.3% of the vote, the largest margin (+17.4 points) since Albertis S.Harrison Jr.[Democrat SEGRAGATIONIST] defeated H. Clyde Pearson with a margin of +27.7 points in 1961. McDonnell: 58.64% as of 12:08am https://www.voterinfo.sbe.virginia.gov/election/DATA/2009/37C2EDEB-FACB-44C1-AF70-05FB616DCD62/UnOfficial/2_s.shtml

When Republican supporters of candidate Robert McDonnell are asked why they voted, a surprising number refer to "he" or "him." The folks at the Chesterbrook polling place in McLean are not talking about McDonnell or his rival, Creigh Deeds, but President Barack Obama. McDonnell voter Christina Hoag, who owns a catering business with about 25 employees, said that she hopes a Republican victory would slow the growth of government and send the message to Democrats that they don't have the mandate in Washington they think they do to remake the economy. "There's anger right now within ourselves, and I think...

A GOP supporter waved a broom Tuesday at Rivals Sports Bar and Grill after Republicans swept the competitive Albemarle County Board of Supervisors races. Republican Rodney S. Thomas pulled ahead of Democrat David L. Slutzky, the incumbent, taking the Rio District seat. And Duane Snow, a Republican businessman and grandfather of 13, sailed past a Democrat and an independent for the Samuel Miller seat.... Snow said that his commitments include “looking for wastes and inefficiencies. I’m going to listen to the citizens of Albemarle County.” Snow received more votes than Democrat Madison Cummings and independent John Lowry. The Rio victor,...

The Democrats did not lose a 2-1 squeaker last night. They lost two huge races, saw an overall evaporation of 25 basis points of support -- and lost by nearly 500,000 cumulative votes in the three high-profile elections. Or put another way, Republicans won two races decided by millions of voters -- and Democrats won a small race dominated by party operatives. In addition, the GOP made some historic gains in Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Washington state special elections to boot. In the context of Bob McDonnell's huge win in Virginia and Chris Christie's surprisingly comfortable win in New Jersey, of...

Even a five-point shift would mean big Democratic losses in 2010. Tuesday's elections should put a scare into red state Democrats—and a few blue state ones, too. Barack Obama was said to have redrawn the electoral map by winning Virginia last year with 53% of the vote. On Tuesday, Republican Bob McDonnell flipped the state back to the GOP, winning his election for governor with 59% of the vote. Mr. Obama carried New Jersey easily last year with 57% of the vote. This year, despite being outspent 3-to-1, Republican Chris Christie ousted Democratic Gov. Jon Corzine there by 49% to...

There is no doubt that many pundits will try to draw national implications out of the massive Republican comeback in Virginia, but there’s not really any evidence that there are any. For one thing, yesterday’s exit polls make it fairly clear that most voters did not consider their vote in the McDonnell-Deeds race to be a re-election of their opinion about the president. By a wide margin, the most important issue for most voters was the state of the economy. Obviously, that should raise red flags for Democrats as we head into 2010 with every indication that unemployment will remain...

NORFOLK, Va., Nov. 4, 2009 – Army Staff Sgt. Megan Krause’s words come out in a rush, as if she wants everyone to hear and learn from her story. Staff Sgt. Megan Krause, an Army Reserve medic who has served in Iraq and Afghanistan, hopes to help other servicemembers by telling her story of seeking help when post-traumatic stress had her spiraling out of control. Courtesy photo  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Krause, an Army reservist with the 365th Engineer Battalion in Pennsylvania, does want people to hear her story, and she wants to connect with servicemembers so they...

Shannon Valentine has conceded the election for the 23rd house district to Dr. Scott Garrett. Chair of the Lynchburg Democrat party, John Lawrence, said Wednesday afternoon that Valentine will not seek a recount. Stay with ABC 13 for the latest on this.

Former Gov. Mitt Romney (R-Mass.) on Wednesday promoted a round of Republican victories in last night's elections in a letter to supporters. The 2012 presidential hopeful plugged the triumphs of Republican gubernatorial candidates Bob McDonnell (Va.) and Chris Christie (N.J.), emphasizing that his political action committee's endorsement and campaign work for the two candidates. "It's exhilarating to wake up to headlines of conservative victories in the battleground elections in Virginia and New Jersey," Romney wrote. "The American people have sent a very strong message to the liberals in Washington, DC that big government is not the answer, and that conservatism...

Pro-Life Advocates Excited by Defeat of Abortion Backers in Virginia, New Jersey Washington, DC -- Tuesday night provided a shot in the arm for the pro-life movement following the disheartening loss last year that resulted in the election of pro-abortion President Barack Obama. With victories in New Jersey and Virginia, pro-life candidates dispatched their pro-abortion opponents. http://www.LifeNews.com/state4542.html

WASHINGTON – An ebullient Republican Party Chairman Michael Steele asserted Wednesday that GOP victories in governors' races in New Jersey and Virginia demonstrate "a transcendent party" on the move again. The White House said the elections were not a repudiation of President Barack Obama. "We're not crowing, we're just smiling," Steele said in a nationally broadcast interview. "I think it's a bellwether for the party ... You look at where we were nine months ago." Steele said he believes Chris Christie's victory in New Jersey and Robert McDonnell's win in Virginia show that the GOP has "really found its voice...

RICHMOND, Va. - Republicans gained at least four seats Tuesday to strengthen their grip on the House of Delegates, but lost an influential delegate who has been embroiled in a scandal. Aided by a Republican sweep of the top three statewide offices, the GOP knocked off at least six Democratic House incumbents. The defeat of Del. Phil Hamilton, R-Newport News, and a Democratic win in an open seat formerly held by a Republican put the GOP's net gain at four with a couple of close races still to be decided. Hamilton, a senior member of the House Appropriations Committee, lost...

By electing governors of Virginia and New Jersey, Republicans have demonstrated that two trends suggested in recent opinion polls are for real. The first is that Republicans have pulled off a remarkable comeback after disastrous election defeats in 2006 and 2008. The second is that they now have a realistic shot at capturing the House and gaining Senate seats in the 2010 midterm election. The stunning success in Virginia and New Jersey was strikingly similar to Republican victories for governor in those states in 1993. Indeed, the margins of victory -- an 18-point landslide in Virginia, a narrow win in...

Most House Democrats tried to put a good face on Tuesday's election results, saying they picked up two more votes for a sweeping health care bill that could be on the floor as early as Friday. But it can't make Speaker Nancy Pelosi's job any easier as she works to corral those last holdouts she needs to approve the bill. Of course, the speaker, who told Politico recently she's "not big on showing weakness," brushed aside questions about how the election results would impact her final tally and instead trumped the two special election wins. "From our perspective we won...

There is bad news in Tuesday's voting for President Obama and his dwindling number of followers. Ten months ago, Obamamania got him the support of 53% of American voters. Obama promised that his successes would only add to that majority. However, he didn’t count on Obamaphobia setting in, a nationwide phenomenon that has reduced his support to around 40%. In Virginia’s gubernatorial race, Republican Bob McDonnell won in a landslide over his Democratic opponent, Creigh Deeds. Obama campaigned hard for Deeds. Deeds had the benefit of the entire Virginia Obama organization. Deeds had Virginia governor and Democratic National Committee (DNC)...

In court papers filed Tuesday, Muhammad's attorneys say the execution should be put off while the court considers whether his trial lawyer was ineffective.

A power outage at Metro's headquarters has led to massive problems systemwide, allowing people to ride some buses for free and shutting down WMATA's Web site, call center and e-mail alert system. Metro said it experienced a power outage at about 2:45 a.m. that took down the data center responsible for communication functions. Besides the Customer Call Center not being able to make or receive calls, Metro said the following problems have developed: Some Metrobus fareboxes are not functioning and if that is the case, customers are being allowed to ride without paying a fare. The NextBus system is not...

Bob McDonnell won big tonight in the Virginia gubernatorial race, as did the entire Virginia Republican party. The implications of the race will be sorted out soon enough. But one big loser is the Washington Post which may unwittingly have helped the Republican, despite their best efforts to put his opponent over the top. On the last weekend in August the Post ran the first of dozens of stories about McDonnell's 1989 masters' thesis, in which he wrote, among other things, that working women were detrimental to families and that government should favor traditional marriage over gay unions. While they...

RICHMOND, Va. — Eager to drain the 2009 elections of drama and import, White House press secretary Robert Gibbs claimed Tuesday night that President Barack Obama was “not watching returns.” You can be sure that he is studying them closely now: The off-year elections were in two big races an unmistakable rebuke of Democrats, reshuffling Obama’s political circumstances in ways likely to have severe near-term consequences for his policy agenda and larger governing strategy. Independents took flight from Democrats. They suffered humiliating gubernatorial losses in traditionally Democratic New Jersey, where Obama lent his prestige in a pair of 11th-hour campaign...

Major Republican victories in two states last night left the fate of President Obama's signature health reforms in doubt and Democrats licking their wounds a year before the 2010 mid-term elections. The defeat of Democratic incumbent Jon Corzine by an estimated five points in the New Jersey governor's race was a serious blow for Mr Obama, who had campaigned intensively for Mr Corzine and urged crowds across the state to turn out for him as they did in the historic White House race a year ago. In Virginia, Republicans won a clean sweep in contests for Governor, Attorney General and...

Off-year elections can be notoriously unreliable as predictors of the future, but as a window on how the political landscape may have changed in the year since President Obama won the White House, Tuesday's Republican victories in Virginia and New Jersey delivered clear warnings for the Democrats. Neither gubernatorial election amounted to a referendum on the president, but the changing shape of the electorates in both states and the shifts among key constituencies revealed cracks in the Obama 2008 coalition and demonstrated that, at this point, Republicans have the more energized constituency heading into next year's midterm elections. The most...

WASHINGTON – Independents who swept Barack Obama to a historic 2008 victory broke big for Republicans on Tuesday as the GOP wrested political control from Democrats in Virginia and New Jersey, a troubling sign for the president and his party heading into an important midterm election year. Conservative Republican Bob McDonnell's victory in the Virginia governor's race over Democrat R. Creigh Deeds and moderate Republican Chris Christie's ouster of unpopular New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine was a double-barreled triumph for a party looking to rebuild after being booted from power in national elections in 2006 and 2008...

Robert F. McDonnell scored a landslide victory over R. Creigh Deeds in the Virginia gubernatorial election Tuesday night as Republicans swept the state's top three offices and ended nearly a decade of Democratic dominance at the top of the ticket. Mr. McDonnell, a former attorney general, captured strong support from independents and voters in the Northern Virginia exurbs of Prince William and Loudoun counties that had been key to President Obama's unexpected victory in the state in 2008.

Awesome night!The left will try their best to minimize the damage done but the bluedog Democrats are now on notice….pass fiscally irresponsible bills like ObamaCare and your toast. As for NY-23, a few good articles…first from Roger Simon: Now I realize that the surprise loser there, Doug Hoffman, ran as a Conservative, not a Republican. But I submit in this case that was a distinction without a significant difference because virtually all the Republican establishment had lined up behind Hoffman by the day of the election.So why – in what was clearly a Republican year – did Hoffman lose? Well,...

The independent voters who powered President Obama and Democrats to victory in 2008 fled to Republicans in Tuesday's elections, helping the GOP romp to a ticketwide sweep in Virginia and a stunning victory over an incumbent Democratic governor in New Jersey. But the night wasn't a total loss for Democrats, as their candidate won a special election to fill an open congressional seat in upstate New York after a bitter civil war left Republicans divided between their party's nominee and a Conservative Party candidate. The seat had been in Republican hands for more than a century.

Barbara is leading her opponent, incumbent Margi Vanderhye for the VA House of Delegates, district 34. But the absentees have not been counted. I have no idea what the chances are of the absentees putting Vanderhye over the top. However, I note that in none of the 20 precints was there a spread as large as Vanderhye's deficit. I expect this could go to a recount. But for now, looking optimistic.

All politics is local, they say, and Tuesday’s off-off-year elections certainly had their local angles. Jon Corzine has been a terrible governor even by the undemanding standards of terribly governed New Jersey. Creigh Deeds, though he looked good to Democratic Party recruiters not long ago, turned out to be an undistinguished campaigner, more driven by the concerns of Washington Post editorialists than of Virginia voters. And NY-23 Republican nomineee Dede Scozzafava was a bizarre choice, bizarre enough to inspire a seemingly quixotic third-party run by Doug Hoffman. But these local angles weren’t enough to keep the Obama administration out of...

Republicans win Virginia, New Jersey governorshipsReuters | 11/04/2009 12:11 PM WASHINGTON – Republicans rolled to victory in governor's races in Virginia and New Jersey on Tuesday in a sharp blow to Democrats that showed the limits of U.S. President Barack Obama's influence. After suffering a one-two punch in those two states, Democrats were trying to salvage a victory over a conservative candidate in a congressional district in upstate New York. The election outcome in Virginia and New Jersey could offer clues on the mood of America a year after Obama was elected president and a year before 2010 congressional elections...

Thank you, Lord! We are finally bringing our country back from the brink of socialism.

  I'm passing these two observations from liberal Virginia bloggers on to readers, but they're so out of line with expectations, I have a hard time buying them.First, from Not Larry Sabato, about the Virginia delegate races: "SIX SEATS ARE GONE — ANOTHER NINE ARE IN PLAY FOR GOP PICKUP." Yesterday I predicted a GOP gain of six seats; I think most Virginia Republicans saw picking up 11 as their best-case scenario.Then, from Blue Virginia: I'm a bit skeptical of this, so take it with as big a grain of salt as you'd like, but it's from an excellent source....

Election '09 Tests Obama's Clout In NJ, Virginia Dems face possibility of big electoral setbacks a year after presidential win WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama's political clout was on the line Tuesday as Virginia and New Jersey chose governors in contests that could serve as warning signs for Democrats about the public's mood heading into an important midterm election year. Elsewhere, Maine voters weighed in on same-sex marriage in a closely watched initiative, and New York and California picked congressmen for two vacant seats. A slew of cities selected mayors, and Ohio voted on allowing casinos. One year after Obama...

Bob McDonell just boarded a plane to fly to New Jersey to celebrate with Christie according to NBC 12 Richmond

Republican Bob McDonnell leads Virginia gubernatorial election by 67% after one percent of votes returned.

WASHINGTON – Republican Bob McDonnell opened a lead in early counting in Virginia's governor's race Tuesday as independent voters swung behind the GOP and fled Democrat R. Creigh Deeds, a reversal from a year ago when they catapulted President Barack Obama to the White House. New Jersey decided whether to stick with unpopular Democratic Gov. Jon Corzine, while voters elsewhere cast ballots in local races. Democrats had won big victories in Virginia in 2006 and 2008, but interviews with voters leaving polling stations in the swing state on Tuesday were filled with signs of possible trouble for Obama and his...

Vast economic discontent marked the mood of Tuesday's off-year voters, portending potential trouble for incumbents generally and Democrats in particular in 2010. But in Virginia, where polls closed at 7 p.m., Creigh Deeds' main problem looks to have been Creigh Deeds. The Democratic gubernatorial nominee fell short on several measures in connecting with Virginia voters: They divided evenly in preliminary exit poll results on whether Deeds "shares your values" – 48 percent yes, 49 percent no. His Republican opponent, Bob McDonnell, scored better; 60 percent said he shares their values. Similarly, just 42 percent in Virginia saw Deeds as "about...

We knew it was going to be a bad election night for the Democrats when former Obama campaign manager David Plouffe announced on NBC's "Today" program that "the results of these elections tend to be overread." Certainly that was not the prevailing opinion in Democratic circles in 2008, when giddiness over Barack Obama's election reached manic proportions. Virginia, which voted Democratic for president for the first time since 1964, was singled out as an indication of the shape of things to come. In 2008, Mr. Plouffe bragged that only Mr. Obama could make Virginia competitive, and when he won the...

Expect GOP to Pickup 1 to 4 seats in Virginia House of Delegates.

WASHINGTON – Republicans wrested political control of Virginia from the Democrats on Tuesday and New Jersey's unpopular Democratic Gov. Jon Corzine was fighting for his political life as independent voters swung behind the GOP in both states. It was a troubling sign for President Barack Obama and his party heading into an important midterm election year. Republican Gov.-elect Bob McDonnell's victory in Virginia over Democrat R. Creigh Deeds was a triumph for a GOP looking to rebuild after being booted from power in national elections in 2006 and 2008. It also was a setback for the White House in a...

RICHMOND, Va. – Voters cast their ballots Tuesday for a new Virginia governor in a closely watched race that has focused on promises of jobs and critiques of President Barack Obama's policies a year after he won the state. Interviews with voters leaving polling stations in Virginia showed that independents broke heavily for Republican Bob McDonnell, fleeing Democrat R. Creigh Deeds. Independents are considered the crown jewel of elections because they often determine outcomes.