As the calendar turns to September, the nation’s marquee race in 2013 is coming into focus: Terry McAuliffe (D) now has an edge over Ken Cuccinelli (R) in the Virginia gubernatorial race, and we’re changing our rating in the contest from toss-up to LEANS DEMOCRATIC. The decision is based on […] Read more »
Virginia: McAuliffe Overcoming the GOP’s Turnout Advantage
If Virginia’s gubernatorial contest was a fight between two equal candidates nominated by two equally evil parties, as it was initially billed, Ken Cuccinelli would have been a modest favorite. The state has a slight but clear Republican lean in an off year election, when Virginia’s new Democratic coalition of […] Read more »
Is Virginia for Haters?
This year’s gubernatorial election in Virginia represents politics at its worst. So says Jonathan Chait, New York magazine columnist. He describes the race as the “most depressing election in America,” giving voters a choice between “Republican nutjob Ken Cuccinelli or soulless Democratic hack Terry McAuliffe.” Not to be outdone, Time […] Read more »
Virginia’s Shift Could Break Streak
Politics is full of long-term patterns – if this happens, that follows – and one enduring example has been the relationship between presidential elections and the Virginia gubernatorial races that follow the year after. Since 1976, the following pattern has held up: whichever party wins the White House, the other […] Read more »
So What Just Happened in Virginia?
… The commonwealth’s curious nomination rules are in the news this week, thanks to last weekend’s Republican Party of Virginia convention in Richmond, where Republican delegates made the highly risky decision to nominate E.W. Jackson (R) for their party’s nomination for lieutenant governor. We’ll let others describe the noxious comments Jackson […] Read more »
As Virginia moves to the middle, Republicans face difficult choices
Virginia Republicans will gather in Richmond this weekend at a convention dominated by conservatives, even as fresh evidence shows them increasingly at odds with most voters in the commonwealth when it comes to key issues such as gay marriage, gun rights and immigration policy. A new Washington Post poll shows […] Read more »