VA House of Delegates closer to Dem. control

In the last election, Democrats won control of the Senate in Virginia, and gained seats in the lower house.

Yesterday, Democrats increased their numbers to 45 (out of 100) in the House of Delegates.  See this article from the WaPo.

RICHMOND, Feb. 20 -- Democrats shaved the Republican majority in the Virginia House of Delegates Tuesday with a one-seat pickup in a special election to fill a vacancy in the Northern Neck.

Albert C. Pollard Jr. (D-Lancaster), 40, reclaimed the 99th District seat he had held from 2000 to 2005 before an unsuccessful bid last year for state Senate. He took 57.6 percent of the vote, according to totals posted at 10 a.m. Wednesday on the Virginia State Board of Elections Web site, defeating Republican Lee Anne Washington in a low-turnout contest to replace former GOP delegate Robert J. Wittman.

So there's some more good news from yesterday's voting.

•  Tip jar

  good news, eh?

  by IMGoph on Wed Feb 20, 2008 at 09:21:42 AM PDT

  •  Hooray

    If we weren't in the middle of primary madness, this would be big news.

    Virginia was one of the first southern states to move from the Dixiecrat coalition into Republican control, and with luck, will be the first one to move back out into a new, sustainable Democratic coalition that can move forward into the future.

    I know Pollard's more of a return from the past than a step into the new, but everything helps.

    by brittain33 on Wed Feb 20, 2008 at 09:50:36 AM PDT

•  I Think Most Folks Had This In The "D" Column...

  When Wittman won the U.S. House seat, and Pollard announced for the race.

  Glad to see that he won it rather easily, despite the low turnout (why in the world did they NOT run this special election LAST week, to coincide with the presidential primary??).

  by Steve Singiser on Wed Feb 20, 2008 at 09:31:38 AM PDT

•  By the way

  Thelma Drake's seat went Democratic in the special election following her promotion, too. Imagine if Tim Hugo runs for the House and wins (boo) and his seat goes Democratic (yay). In the long run, the Republican gerrymander of Virginia's congressional seats could have cost them the Assembly by creating too many opportunities to move up!

  by brittain33 on Wed Feb 20, 2008 at 09:55:26 AM PDT

  •  God Tim Hugo

    sucks.

    That is all.

    by Dems2004 on Wed Feb 20, 2008 at 10:05:50 AM PDT

•  Pollard's already been sworn in!

  link

  by ChrisG7 on Wed Feb 20, 2008 at 12:58:18 PM PDT