2017 Virginia HoD Thread

[Anna Komnene]

If Hugo is to survive and HD-94 makes it 50-50, he is a very strong candidate to become Speaker in a power-sharing agreement. He is the last Fairfax County Republican alive as of right now.

Why don't you think a democrat could become Speaker in a 50/50 situation?

[Anna Komnene]

Deciphering the intent on that ballot is beyond absurd. I could come up with several justifications with varying degrees of plausibility for either side. It's impossible to be certain they wanted to vote for one candidate or the other.

[Anna Komnene]

^

Yeah, it's possible the voter could have struck through both Gillespie and Simonds in an attempt to show their intent. The fact that they voted for all Republicans doesn't necessarily mean they meant to vote for Yancey. It could have been a case where they were filling in all of the GOP bubbles and then remembered at the last minute that they meant to vote for Simonds in the local race. Not really any less plausible than the suggestion that they meant to vote for Yancey. Anyone who says they can be 100% confident enough in the voter's intentions in order to say one way or the other is just engaging in partisan hackery.

[Anna Komnene]

IMO anyone who would decide to vote Dem based on the GOP having a majority would be equally as likely to do it with a 50/50 split. It's more important to have as many incumbents as possible. Incumbent Yancey would be much harder to beat in 2019 than a gop challenger (or even Challenger Yancey). Beyond that, dems should want as many votes as they can get. Even if they can't accomplish major objectives, they'll still be more likely to pick off a Republican here and there for smaller legislation. Being able to go back to your constituents that voted for you and show them that you're doing things for them is really important.