Despite being outspent by at least 3 - 1, McEachin emerged victorious by 1,751 votes, or 58% to 42%, winning all three jurisdictions in the district, Henrico County, Charles City County and the City of Richmond.
One issue dominated the race - Lambert's endorsement of Republican Senator George Allen during the 2006 seante race in which Jim Webb defeated Allen by 9,000 votes in an upset - and that endorsement turned out to be the kiss of death for Lambert. I'm sure that Lambert thoguht Allen would cruise to victory - but the "Mecaca" comment made by Allen and captured on video and posted on U-Tube, put Allen on the defensive during the campaign and he never recovered.
Lambert also was campaigning for Allen and was photographed by a reporter, along with Allen, and President Bush inspecting pumpkins. The McEachin campaign used this photograph effectively, mailing it to voters throughout the 9th district, reminding voters that if Lambert had succeeded in re-electing Allen, the U.S. Senate would still be controlled by Republicans. And to inflict even more damage, that same McEachin mailer also reported that Lambert had been making political donations to right-wing Republican politicians who were anti-choice, anti-civil rights, anti-public schools, anti-worker and anti-Social Security. It was a devastating blow to Lambert, but, one that was self-inflicted.
Even with the mailer, apparently McEachin campaign was savvy enoguh to realize that the mailer itself was not going to win the primary for them. Lambert had represented the City of Richmond and big chunks of Henrico throughout his 29 years of public service. Lambert operated his business for years in Richmond, attended church there, etc., so his ties throughout the community were extensive so the McEachin camapign realiuzed Lambert would be a tough opponent to knock off. The McEachin campaign sent out a number of mailers outlining his stance on a number of issues, including education, minimum wage, gun safety, etc. And I ahve heard from many in the district that McEachin spent long hours going door to door to discuss his views directly with voters.
But in the end, I beleive it was McEachin's GOTV operation that really clinched the upset victory. It is extremely difficult to motivate voters to vote in a primary in the middle of June. Vopters are so distracted, planning vacations, attending high school gradutations, etc., so a camapign really has to ID their supporters and hound them on election day to get them to the polls. Sources have revelaed McEachin had flushing operation set up in a number of precincts, he had two volunteer phone banks set up, and based on the reutls of he election and turn out numbers, his GOTV operation was a well oiled machine that turned out his supporters on election day.
Turnout was 10.43% across the district but that does not really tell the whole story - you have to dig deeper to really see the dramatic effect McEachin's GOTV opeartion had on the election.
In Richmond, turnout was 10.12%. I was surprised that the turnout was this high, but if you look at the numbers closely, the higher than expected turnout actually benefited McEachin, who scored an upset within an upset by actually winnning Richmond by 461 votes.
In Charles City County, turnout was an impressive 17.68%, with McEachin winning the county by 273 votes, or 66% to 34%. Turnout here was quite high and it appears that Floyd Miles, who was seeking election to the 74th House seat, and who resides in Charles was a big factor in upping turnout in Charles City. However, it is interetsing to note that McEachin received more votes than Miles did in Charles City.
In Henrico County, McEachin's home county, turnout was 10.04% but you really need to dig deeper in to the numbers to understand what happened in Henrico. The 9th senate district covers two magesterial districts in Henrico - Fairfield and Varina. In Varina, turnout was 7.2%, and in Fairfield, turnout was 13.2%. And in eight of the 14 precincts in Fairfield, turnout ranged from 13.8% to 24.1%, and these precincts delivered, for the most part, HUGE margins for McEachin. Check these out:
Chamberlayne:
284 - McEachin
215 - Lambert
24.1% turnout
Wilder:
199 - McEachin
131 - Lambert
20.8% turnout
Adams:
159 - McEachin
67 - Lambert
21.5% turnout
Hungary:
125 - McEachin
112 - Lambert
17.7% turnout
Greenwood:
124 - McEachin
74 - Lambert
17.2% turnout
Maplewood:
233 - McEachin
86 - Lambert
16.7% turnout
Glen Lea:
100 - McEachin
60 - Lambert
15.4% turnout
Central Gardens:
194 - McEachin
78 - Lambert
13.8% turnout
Varina District's turnout was 7.2% and appears to be quite low. However, there's more to the story here than meets the eye. McEachin caried Varina 1,197 to 1,025, or 53.9% to 46.1%. McEachin carried two precints by big magins