“The shutdown was very unpopular in VA for obvious reasons”
I think this is overstated, as it turns out it was a paid vacation for them.
I remember the House GOP led on giving that handout on that Saturday, as they did in 1996 it just made them look stupid.
I live in Maryland and VA is heavily dependent on Federal jobs, not just North VA but the VA Beach/Norfolk area too, and the shutdown and sequester is messing with their gravy train,
It kept Obamacare troubles off the news too as the shutdown turned into a argument about separate funding bills.
Shutdown was unpopular in much of VA for sure.