On Tuesday, election polls opened
early and stayed open until 7 p.m., but
the counting and tallying continued into
the late hours of the night and early
morning. It wasn’t until after 1 a.m., with
George Baker’s victory over Jay O’Brien
in the 39th district, that Gov. Timothy
M. Kaine announced that the Democrats
had taken the Senate.
Democrats won the four Senate
seats they needed to gain majority over
the Republicans, with a 21-19 edge.
Although Republicans still hold the
majority in the House of Delegates, the
win in the Senate gave Democrats a great
deal of political power.
So what does that mean for the citizens
of Virginia? Since there are no more
elections before redistricting, Democrats
will be able to redraw voting districts to
their favor, giving them the opportunity
to regain power in Virginia and possibly
starting their own reign in the Senate.
They also will decide which bills will
reach the floor, pushing aside and possibly
eliminating the unpopular driving
fees proposed by Republicans.
Many of you are probably wondering
how Virginia, a typically conservative
state, could have elected a Democratic
Senate. A lot of that had to do with
uncontested races, endorsements and
the popularity of higher Republican
officials.
As for the history books, this year’s
election ranked as the most expensive
General Assembly election in history.
Candidates were said to have raised
more than $60 million, receiving funds
from numerous contributors that were
used to pay for television and radio
advertisements. Democrats raised a
large sum of money through the efforts
of Kaine, along with former Gov. Mark
Warner and U.S. Sen. Jim Webb. The
only elected officials who campaigned
for the Republicans seemed to be Lt.
Gov. Bill Bolling and Attorney General
Bob McDonnell.
Negative news still surrounds the polls
when it comes to voter participation.
Election officials blame this
mostly on early morning rain
and 55 uncontested races that
left many voters uninterested.
There was a great deal of
interest in Northern Virginia,
where expensive political battles were
raged for vacant seats.
There still seems to be apathy among
many young adults today, which makes
absolutely no sense.One downfall of the
Republican Party is the Bush administration.
Bush’s approval rating has steadily
plummeted over the past few years,
reflecting negatively on the Republican
Party. The death toll in Iraq is constantly
rising, with little to no progress being
made; many people have long been
unsatisfied with the majority party. The
fact that citizens are looking negatively at
the Republican Party on a national level
might affect local election results.
Also, it seems the nation is undergoing
a huge change in political views.
Consider the war on terrorism’s loss of
support, the recent talk of impeaching
vice president Dick Cheney and the first
override of a presidential veto.
Democrats are quickly climbing the
political ladder again. The fall of the
Republican Senate in Virginia seems to
take Democrats a step closer to obtaining
political power once more. The ultimate
question of who will get power will be
answered this time next year in the 2008
presidential election.