The most fascinating state to watch over the past 10 years as without a doubt been the Commonwealth of Virginia, especially given the wealth of progressive state blogs that have documented the rapid changes of the past four years. As you all know, candidates for Governor have been well underway with their campaigns and, at this point, I do not really have a favorite among the three Democrats (well, I'm not too fond of Terry Terry McCullough), but one may have done himself more harm than good with his recent resignation from the Virginia House of Delegates. Not Larry Sabato has more than a few things to say about Brian Moran and the timing of his resignation over the holidays.
Last night, a candidate won a safe seat in the House of Delegates with 191 votes.
191 votes for Brian Moran's seat. The senior class President at TC Williams High School got more votes to win their election. Bubbles Hair Salon at any individual location serves more customers on a Saturday.
To put this into context, in the 45th district (next to Brian's seat) 6,881 voters were able to pick their new Delegate in an open primary in 2005. That's about 34 times the participation as last night.
There is no question at this point that Brian's timing causing this quick election disenfranchised the vast majority of people in his district interested in who represented them in Richmond.
The voters of the 46th district allowed Brian to represent them and become a prominent player in Richmond for a decade and a half. It's a shame that in pursuing higher ambitions, Brian treated the voters of his district with such blatant disrespect on his way out the door.
The author is quick to point out that there is nothing wrong with nominee Charniele Herring, but he does have a point about the point about the timing and process.
I'm going to bite my tounge on some of these thoughts until Wednesday after the nominee has been decided. I have nothing against Charniele Herring, but this is NOT how we should be picking a Delegates for a safe Democratic seat.
This raises serious questions for me about Moran's judgment and how he thinks government should work.
Furthermore, he notes in yet another post that, as late as this past weekend, they did not have a location for the district caucus. In other words, it was a great big mess. We've seen, in the special elections held since November 4, how difficult it is to get people to show up over the holidays after a presidential election that left parties, local jusridictions and voters exausted. Moran should have thought about this before he left so soon. When you hold and leave elected offices, it impacts people besides yourself. This may not hurt his run for governor, but it is no doubt a reflection of his judgement.