I'll be following the results of the Mark Herring (D) vs. Mick Staton (R) Virginia Senate race in the 33rd district (eastern Loudoun and a small portion of western Fairfax Counties). Please feel free to use this as an open thread...
7:30 PM
Herring xxx (xx.xx%)
Staton xxx (xx.xx%)
Note: No results in yet on the State Board of Elections website, but Ben Tribbett, aka "Not Larry Sabato," has already called it for Herring. We'll see if Ben maintains his 99.5% accuracy rating. :)
7:40 PM
Herring xxx (xx.xx%)
Staton xxx (xx.xx%)
Note: Still no results in yet on the State Board of Elections website, but Fairfax County has it 1,794-909 for Herring. Exxxcelllent!!! .
7:48 PM
Herring 1,995 (67.01%)
Staton 981 (32.95%)
Note: Wow, Herring is crushing Staton everywhere in Fairfax County. Herring leads by nearly 2:1 margins in most precincts, such as Lee's Corner East (139-68), Lee's Corner West (224-134), Franklin (275-175), McNair (160-28!!), Frying Pan (165-59!), and Fox Mill (479-231). Overall, it's 1,959-968 for Herring right now in Fairfax, with just 1 precinct (Floris) left to go.
8:02 PM
Herring 2,289 (67.44%)
Staton 1,103 (32.50%)
Note: All precincts now reporting in Fairfax County, and it's Herring in a landslide - 2,289 to 1,103 votes. Impressive! By the way, there are 11 precincts in Fairfax and 41 in Loudoun. Still a ways to go, but looking good if you're a Democrat.
8:08 PM
Herring 12,379 (61.63%)
Staton 7,688 (38.27%)
Note: With 50 of 52 precincts reporting, it's all over...stick a fork in it. You can now call him Senator Herring. :) Oh, and Ben was right...nice call!
In sum, this was a nice, old-fashioned whuppin', delivered by a great young Democrat to the son-in-law and protege of Dick "Baby Pesticides" Black. Amazingly, Staton didn't win ONE SINGLE PRECINCT! Looks like Loudoun and Fairfax Counties are now officially, solidly blue. It also looks like those two counties have decisively rejected the extremist, right-wing, divisive, gay- and immigrant-bashing politics of Dick Black and Company. Good riddance!
By the way, it's now 23-17 in the Virginia State Senate, which means Democrats need a pickup of just 3 more seats to pull even. This goal is now well within reach, and the momentum is clearly on our side, especially in NOVA. Damn, Virginia is actually turning BLUE, I can feel it! Now, is there any way we can change James Webb's mind about running for Senate this year?!?