This is a pretty obscure primary result from a downticket race in Virginia for the Swing State Project to highlight, but you might remember State Sen. Benjamin Lambert as one of the few Democrats who crossed over and endorsed then-Senator George Allen last fall in his bitter race against Jim Webb. Lambert, a senior African-American state lawmaker in the Democratic caucus, gave a crucial boost to Allen’s campaign in the midst of the raging “macaca” controversy. Luckily, it wasn’t enough to keep Allen buoyant, and it also inspired a primary challenge from Webb ally Donald McEachin, a member of the House of Delegates–a campaign that proved successful tonight with a 58-42 loss for Lambert. Somewhat amusingly, Lambert lamented the lack of help he received from Allen in the primary campaign after his loss became apparent:
Lambert said his support of Allen probably cost him his job. “I thought the Allen folks would have helped me more, but it didn’t work out that way.”
Let that serve as a lesson to Democrats who may want to play footsie with Congressional Republicans at this crucial time.