Election Winners
Here are the winners in Tuesday's elections. There were so many that we decided to put the losers in a separate file.
Dick Saslaw -- The Senate minority leader from Fairfax succeeded in flipping control of the Senate for only the second time since Reconstruction. Saslaw worked hard to raise money to fund Democratic candidates. Starting in late summer, Saslaw was telling lobbyists and donors that the Democrats would retake the Senate, which convinced them they should give even more money. With his likely elevation to majority leader in January, Saslaw now becomes one of the most influential leaders in Richmond.
Joe Abbey- As campaign manager for Sen.-elect J. Chapman "Chap" Petersen (D-Fairfax), Abbey helped his candidate rack up a 10-point margin of victory over Sen. Jeannemarie Devolites Davis (R-Fairfax). Even though Petersen was running in a Democratic-leaning district, Abbey had to go up against seasoned Devolites Davis strategists who pulled out all the stops to try to re-elect her.
More below
John H. Chichester - The outgoing Senate president's worst nightmare didn't materialize. Conservative Republicans failed in their bid to gain control of the Virginia Senate. To keep the moderates in charge, Chichester (R) ignored party labels and supported candidates he thought would fulfill his legacy of trying to make sure government was adequately funded. Chichester donated money to Democrat John Miller, who defeated conservative Republican Patricia "Trish" Stall for a Senate seat in Hampton Roads. Chichester also endorsed Sen. Charles J. Colgan (D-Prince William), who also won his race over conservative Republican Bob FitzSimmonds. Chichester's hand-picked successor, Republican Richard Stuart, also won his race against Democrat Albert Pollard.
Charlie Kelly/Matt Felan - Kelly and Felan led Gov. Timothy M. Kaine's political action committee, Moving Virginia Forward. Kaine's committee raised more than $3 million to help Democratic candidates. The committee also provided extensive advice to candidates and helped organize the Democrats' get-out-the-vote effort.
Steve Pazmino - The director of the Senate Democratic Caucus worked with Saslaw and Kaine to orchestrate the Democrats' success in retaking the state Senate.
Timothy D. Hugo (R-Fairfax) - The two-term GOP delegate from Fairfax County easily survived a tough challenge from Democrat Rex Simmons. Hugo beat Simmons by 2,200 votes, despite a Democratic tide in Fairfax County this year. Hugo may now be able to argue he is the best Republican candidate to run for Congress in the 11th District if Rep. Thomas M. Davis III decides not to seek reelection.
Robert F. McDonnell - The state's Republican attorney general stuck around for a round of election night parties Tuesday night, even though many top GOP officials had known for days it appeared likely there wouldn't be much celebrating going on. McDonnell's presence was noteworthy considering state party Chairman John H. Hager opted for a White House dinner Tuesday night and Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling decided he couldn't miss a National Lieutenant Governors Association meeting.
Del.-elect R.W. "Bobby" Mathieson - A former police officer, Mathieson (D) could become a rising star within the Democratic Party after he unseats Del. John J. Welch III (R-Virginia Beach). Mathieson was one of only two challengers to defeat an incumbent delegate this year. The other was Republican G.M. "Manoli" Loupassi, who defeated Del. Katherine B. Waddell, an independent from Richmond.
Del. Terry K. Kilgore (R-Scott) - The House Republican caucus chairman emerges as one of the GOP's best quote machines, delivering such comments as "it doesn't do any good to be bipartisan with Tim Kaine" because "he'll cut your hands off the next day." With battles looming with Kaine and the new Democratic Senate, Kilgore should get plenty of opportunities to use his sharp tongue.
Sen.-elect George L. Barker (D) - Democratic strategists say Barker ran one of the best campaigns of the cycle, working diligently for weeks honing his message and targeting voters with face-to-face contact to pull off his victory over Sen. James K. "Jay" O'Brien (R-Fairfax).
Dave Hunt - Even though he lost to Democrat Margi Vanderhye in the race to replace Del. Vincent F. Callahan (R-Fairfax), Hunt, a Republican, got 48 percent of the vote in a Democratic-leaning district that straddles the Capital Beltway.
Rocky Balboa -- In this campaign ad for Sen. Charles J. Colgan (D-Prince William), the main character in the movie "Rocky" proves he still has appeal. For most of the fall, it appeared as if Colgan could lose to Republican Bob FitzSimmonds But Colgan easily won. He credited the Rocky ad for his victory.
Scott K. York-- The chairman of the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors and the county's poster boy for slow growth hit it big on Tuesday, not only winning his fourth term in office but sweeping out many of the Republicans who stripped him of his powers when they took office.
Can you think of any more election winners? Add your suggestions below.
By Steve Fehr |
November 9, 2007; 1:08 PM ET
| Category:
Election 2007
,
Winners and Losers
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Posted by: Anonymous | November 9, 2007 2:30 PM
If Dave Hunt is a winner for losing by 500 or so votes to Margi Vanderhye in a open seat, then Jay Donahue must be an even bigger winner for losing by only 199 votes to the incumbent Thomas Davis Rust in the 86th House of Delegates race.
Posted by: NoVA | November 9, 2007 3:12 PM
Why didn't you say any thing about Jeff Frederick's big win in VA's 52nd district? Or is this not a news site?
Posted by: R. Dancause | November 10, 2007 12:22 PM
I think Tom Rust deserves to be in the "winner" category too. First, a "minor correction: According to the State Board of Elections Rust won by 677 votes, not 199.
Rust won a higher percentage of the vote than Eugene Delgaudio in Sterling and lost only 3 precincts on the Fairfax side - McNair, Hutchison, and Frying Pan - all huge Democratic strongholds. He won overall in Fairfax despite the fact that Joan Dubois and Gary Baise dragged down the Republican ticket big-time.
Despite running in the most Democratic district in the state held by a Republican and as the unabashed perpetrator of the abuser fees, Rust still grabbed almost 53% of the vote. There's also the minor matter of the Democratic Party dropping almost $300,000 into the Donahue campaign. They threw everything they could against Rust, and he still showed he could prevail.
Posted by: 86th District | November 12, 2007 3:51 PM
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How about the House Republican Caucus? Instead of fighting a "moderate" GOP Senate, they will get to fight a "liberal" to moderate Democrat Senate. I wouldn't call Mathison an up and comer....come on how difficult is it to beat a Republican who filed bankruptcy? Is this what it takes to be a rising star in the Democrat party these days? I would argue that the Dems cemented their gains in NOVA and they won against exceptionally weak candidates downstate. Where Republicans rand decent candidates downstate, they walked the dog on the Dems. For example: Senator Fred Quayle winning big; Delegate John Cosgrove winning big; Senator Steve Martin winning big; Delegate elect Massie winning big; Delegate Elect Manoli Loupassi scoring one of the upsets of the night.
As for Governor Kaine's, Gov. Warner's, and Sen. Webb's much heraled southside candidates in the House of Delegates, Adam Tomer and Eric Ferguson, they both got beat in a year the Dems should have won those seats. In fact, Gov. Kaine, Gov. Warner, and Sen. Webb made targeting these two delegates a high priority so that they could have a few plums in southside, VA. The lost both.....not to mention the loss of Dr. Breiner for the Roanoke based Senate race against Smith. Just wait until Hillary is the nominee next year, then you will start to see Republican fortunes turn around HUGE. Think she is going to get troops out of Iraq? No. Think she is going to piss of the NOVA defense crowd, yes. Do you think the Southwest VA Democrat Senators will tolerate Dick Saslaw trying to hijack 3/4 of the transportation trust fund from to deliver it to NOVA? Dark clouds on the horizon for the Dems my friend. Fortunes change quickly.