Purple
Republicans regained control of the State Senate in yesterday’s elections, and in the process now have the power in both houses of the General Assembly and all three statewide offices.
Looking at the results from Tuesday’s state elections that way, then, you’d think, Well, going to be tough for a guy named Barack Obama and a guy named Tim Kaine to win in Virginia in 2012. You know, because they’re Democrats, and Democrats are the minority party in Virginia these days.
Funny thing there – this new normal is based on Republicans gaining exactly two seats in the State Senate. And since all 40 seats were up for re-election in the 2011 cycle, that means a gain from 18 seats to 20, with Democrats dropping two to go from 22 to 20. [Read more...]
The County Quartet
Tracy Pyles is frequently criticized for not being able to play well with others. That’s a fair observation. Also fair would be the observation that Pyles thinks the current majority on the Augusta County Board of Supervisors is taking the county in the wrong direction, and playing nice isn’t going to get things moving in the right direction.
This is what the 2011 Board of Supervisor elections will come down to, in my view. Do you like the way things are going in county government? If so, you’ve got excellent candidates to choose from in the four contested races on the ballot on Tuesday, for starters in the race for Pyles’ Pastures District seat, where he is being challenged by Jim Warren, a well-spoken small businessman. [Read more...]
Who I’m voting for in the 20th House
I’ve known Dickie Bell for more than a decade. And the Dickie Bell that I know, I like a lot.
This other Dickie Bell, the one who comes across as a hard-core social and fiscal conservative, I don’t know him that well, but I understand what’s going on there. Back when Dickie first got the nomination to run as the Republican nominee for the 20th House District seat in 2009, he was about as close to the political center of the long list of candidates as you could be and still be considered a Republican.
He could have viewed his ultimate blessing by the party hierarchy as an endorsement of his approach to politics, but decided instead to run to the right after having secured the nomination. A curious move, indeed, but it’s hard to criticize – he won the November 2009 election with more than 70 percent of the vote in a district that includes Democratic-leaning Staunton. [Read more...]
