With 53% of the vote, Democrat Ralph Northam easily won the Virginia governor’s race, defeating Republican Ed Gillespie.
While the headlines found on outlets such as NPR and CNN made it appear that Virginia had overwhelmingly gone democrat, a map of the election results paints a different picture.
Most of the state went red–only areas with large amounts of transplants, such as Northern Virginia and Tidewater went blue (Northam lost Accomack, but narrowly held Northampton).
While Northam is from the Shore, he celebrated victory in Northern Virginia. What does this mean for rural Virginia?
Essentially, you no longer have much of a say in anything. All that clout goes to Northern Virginia, which, like bloated roadkill only has to slice open its belly for more democrat voters to come rolling out.
Like a black hole, money will continue to disappear into…who knows what, but be sure, your school district will continue to be screwed by Richmond.
This trend does not apply to just this Commonwealth, but is pretty much happening nationally. However, in national elections, the electoral college provides some protections. For the Virginia Governor’s mansion, popular vote rules and densely populated areas will continue dictate policy. Yes, the General Assembly sets the agenda, but the Governor wields the power.
Rural Virginia, you got nothing…but, at least you live here and not there.
Maybe like Luke said, nothing can be a real cool hand. That be us, a crazy handul of nothin…I guess depending on how you turn it, it can be a beautiful thing.
Margot Gorske says
Yes, population can dictate election results. It can also fail. Witness the recent 2016 election where Trump won the electoral college by roughly 80,000 votes in 3 key states. Clinton won the popular vote by roughly 3 million. So, sheer majority of votes won for Northam and the opposite for Clinton. Cuts both ways.
Tim West says
Clinton won those votes in a few districts in California and New York….certainly you cannot let them decide for a nation. I pray that they are brought to justice before they pass.
Charlie Mas says
This is an absurd interpretation of the results. You could just as easily have written that Trump won with a few votes in Wisconsin and Pennsylvania.
I know you don’t like to consider it, but votes by citizens in California and New York get counted the same as everyone else’s when totaling the popular vote. They only count for less in the electoral college, which is slanted against them.
Tim West says
Ignorance is Bliss…
Mike Kuzma, Jr. says
Interesting. Looking at the map, it seems that the districts with the most……..erm….”Come Here’s” in Va turned you all purple. Weird how people with no vested interest in Virginia’s past or future now dictate your leadership.
Huh.
Odd.
Tim West says
Political Correctness at it’s very best…a couple generations of ‘You Can’t Say That’.
Terri Mead says
Mike, what makes you think people who aren’t FFV don’t have a vested interest in how Va is governed? They live here. They drive, pay state taxes, own property, go to school, etc. They didn’t just stop by to vote.
Mike Kuzma, Jr. says
Terri, the people of NOVA have no affinity for Virginia, they are by their own admission ‘citizens of the world’. As for reality, how’s that extra lane on the Hampton Roads Bridge tunnel…….oh, right, McAulliffe stated outright that there will NEVER BE ANY $$ spent there……..that’s one………then the article about Northam, well that’s another(he serves the WORLD”S citizens now, doncha know)
Pay state taxes? Oh sweetie, the elite have large firms of accountants to make sure that only peons like US pay taxes……….why, they’ll simply defer compensation and replace it with tax free income……got to school? Yes, private ones. Own property? Nah, NOVA has the highest percentage of renters in VA. Drive? You been to NOVA? They sit.
So, to answer your question, I use my eyes to see and read.
Catherine Parks says
Sheep don’t think, they only respond to stimulation…kind of like Liberal Democrats and RHINOS.
Charlie Mas says
I am really impressed with the effort you made to interview everyone in Northern Virginia and get their perspective on these questions.
Or could it be that you’re just talking smack?
Tim West says
‘talking smack’?? Really??
I want to be first in line.
You may do well to look over that log before you leap.
Mike Kuzma, Jr. says
Try reading a paper once in a while, keep up on current affairs and open your eyes. It’s not necessary to poll an entire population when their actions tell the tale.
Take a ride all the way down 13 from Philly. Tell me why Delaware and Maryland’s eastern shore regions are about a million times more modern and ‘developed’; not development, just infrastructure and modernity, were it not a forgotten zone, ignored by both Richmond and NOVA where the money ALWAYS flows to?
LOL, it’s obvious to those of us OUTSIDE your state, why can’t you see it?
Ahh, I see. Lockstep liberalism. Gotcha.
Terri Mead says
Mike, I am terribly confused by the thesis sentence of your last comment. Could you please explain it to me, or perhaps put in a word you left out? This is the sentence I’m asking about:
Tell me why Delaware and Maryland’s eastern shore regions are about a million times more modern and ‘developed’; not development, just infrastructure and modernity, were it not a forgotten zone, ignored by both Richmond and NOVA where the money ALWAYS flows to?
I just don’t understand the words you are using here. I’d be willing to talk about the differences between rural and urban parts of Virginia, or between Delaware’s economy and Virginia’s, but I need some clarification before I head off in the wrong direction.
Terri Mead says
Mike, I saw from your other comment (the one I asked about) that you don’t live in Virginia. Well, I’ve lived here since I was 4 years old, with a brief detour for graduate school, and I lived in Fairfax County (in NoVA) for 10 years. When I lived there, I was still a Virginian. I worked, paid taxes, and voted in Virginia. I bought a condo, and drove to work (because it was still easier than using the very-good-but-not-perfect public transit system) and I didn’t SIT because I timed my commute to avoid the worst traffic.
When I lived there (1992 till 2003) there were more than a million residents in Fairfax County alone. There were 42 languages spoken in the public schools. So, by your definition, I guess that means they were all, at some point, “citizens of the world.” But all those children, and their families, were now living in Virginia, and using the public school system, and participating in life in Virginia.
You may be thinking of rich corporate lobbyists who work in DC and report to their companies in Texas, or New Jersey, or the Cayman Islands… I’m sure plenty of them sleep in Fairfax, and in Montgomery County, Maryland, and in Georgetown, and so on. But the people who sell them groceries, cook their meals in restaurants, fix their air conditioning, clean their teeth…. those people also live here, in Virginia. And they vote. And I guess more of them vote Democratic than the ones who do all the same things on the Eastern Shore.
Chas Cornweller says
Well, see right there, Mike. That’s your problem. Tooling down the ole Delmarva Peninsula while adhering to Route 13 only…it’s no wonder you only see the modernity along your route. And while it is modern and new and shiny…it all looks the same. Should you venture off the trail and take a few side roads, you might find some quaint little towns. Some doing better than others, but most trying to ride out this post-modern period of Big Lots, Deep Pockets from afar, and Federal administrations that don’t care either way. But ask the people why they remain. I am sure you’ll get a litany of statements of life long residences, pride in the land/area, can’t afford to move…that sort of thing. But the overwhelming feeling you’ll discover, if you look hard enough, is a sense of pride of where they live; where they come from.
Yes, we’re ALL being kicked in the teeth right now (unless you are gainfully employed and/or a hedge-fund executive. For the rest of us in this glorious nation, well…times are tough. Has the Eastern Shore been forgotten? Maybe it seems that way for some…but, surely the Chinese consortium hasn’t forgotten the pastoral lands of the Eastern Shore. Because in conjunction with Tyson Foods and Perdue Foods, manufacturing of CAFO’s along the rustic by-ways of the Delmarva Peninsula is at an all-time high. Now, if that is your idea of modernity, then…personally, I’d as soon as be forgotten. Thank you.
Mike Kuzma, Jr. says
Oh, Chas………..Why, I was on Cheapside all the time, visiting friends. I’ve seen the towns you speak of, and were it not for the out of staters coming in and owning the homes, and visting the businesses they’d be dead too.
“Gainfully employed or a hedge fund manager”, Gee, very few choices in ChasWorld. I guess you’d prefer people not work on chickens, either. And it seems like you are always going on about one race or another, why do you hate Chinese people now?
Terry, I speak of the roads, the utilities, the businesses themselves……….all exhibit a modernity, a ‘usability’ that appears more 21st century than Va. Dear Lord, even Slower De shows a greater use of space!! And yes, I’ve been all over Virginia, seen the rural western parts and even there…….even there!!!! it is more modern and well, clean. Once you hit Va on 113 or 13, it just gets……….well, dirty. Not modern.
Frankly, every time y’all decide to stop some development, you are consigning the poor of the Eastern Shore to greater poverty and lack of opportunity. Why, it seems like the age old racism of the Democrat party is still alive and kicking in Ol’ Virginny.
Now let’s talk about NOVA. Terry, look at your last election map. Frankly, that alone PROVES that NOVA is driving the bus of Virginia. Clearly, the predominance of the State preferred a Red result, but the sheer numbers of those ‘citizens of the world’ pushed you blue. Not me.
And Terry? It is common knowledge that the NOVA counties are at the top of the chart in re income and it’s not because of all the industry there, it’s all about Gov’t contracting. You know their commitment to Va is as deep as their contract is long.
Let’s just watch it play out. You have a D Legislature and Gov, the whole dern state is just gonna prosper prosper prosper!!!!!
Just don’t look for another lane on the HRBT, or any development over there on the ES.