The Washington Post is reporting that last night, former state House Delegate Al Pollard (D) won the special election to replace former Delagate and now-US Rep. Rob Whitman (R). Pollard received nearly 58% of the votes.
With Pollard’s election to the seat he held from 2000-2005, the House composition is now 53 Republicans, 45 Democrats, and 2 Republican-leanding independents.
Looks like Virginia is getting a little bit more blue with each passing election!
… that’s the year I expect Dems to have a really good shot at taking the House of Delegates, and if they manage to keep the governor’s mansion in the hands of the Dems (which they just might, considering just how popular the GOP is in Virginia), it would complete their clean sweep of both state house chambers, the governorship, both US Senate seats, and a majority in the state’s US House delegation. I’m not counting the Virginia Supreme Court justice composition, tho… I’m not sure how that works, exactly. If it’s appointed, they might already have a majority on that, as well.
With no redistricting, Democrats need three additional US House seats to gain the majority within the state’s delegation. Which three? Off hand, that would point to VA-11 (open, now Tom Davis), VA-10 (Frank Wolf) and VA-2 (Thelma Drake). Although it was a major target in 2006, VA-2 seems pretty much below the radar screen this year.
I think that’s a pretty tall order. Do you have another seat in mind?
I’m no expert on Virginia politics, but my notes from last cycle (2007 state house) say “Progressive” after Pollard’s name, so this gain is not just a statistic on party balance, but could go in the “More and better Democrats. Is that accurate?