Wow, this was certainly intense - 421 votes cast, lots of discussion, a Blog Talk Radio debate, both candidates working hard for the RK endorsement. So let me just start by thanking everyone, especially the candidates, for their participation in this RK endorsement process. Eric should have more analysis later, but for now I'll just say that we got a LOT of new people signing up on Raising Kaine, apparently for the purpose of voting in the Galligan-Barker poll. Obviously, interest is running high in this race.Now, to the results. First, the community went strongly for Greg Galligan (56%) over George Barker (43%). Almost nobody (under 2%) opted for "no endorsement" in this one. Very impressive, and congratulations to Greg Galligan for winning the RK community vote by a convincing margin!
Second, after a great deal of discussion, we held our internal RK vote. The results: 1 vote for Greg Galligan, 1 vote for George Barker, 3 votes for "no endorsement" in this race. Combined with the community vote, the final result is Greg Galligan with 2 votes, George Barker with 1 vote, and "no endorsement" with 3 votes. That means, of course, that RK is not making an endorsement in this Democratic primary (it takes 5 votes out of 6 possible).
Finally, I'd just like to emphasize that the internal RK consensus was that either Greg Galligan or George Barker would be a fine candidate against Jay O'Brien, and also an excellent State Senator. No question, after this primary is over, RK will enthusiastically support the Democratic nominee. Thanks again to both candidates, and best of luck on the campaign trail!