Tuesday, November 13, 2012
Longtime politico tells Richmond Times-Dispatch it's time to get out of politics after Nov. 6 loss.
A fixture in Virginia politics is hanging up his hat. George Allen, the former governor and U.S. senator who makes his home with his family in Mount Vernon, told the Richmond Times-Dispatch he has "no intention of running for office again." He and wife Susan “put our heart and soul into this campaign,” he told the newspaper. Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell said Tuesday he is "disappointed" to hear that Allen has taken himself out of the political arena after losing his Senate race last week to Tim Kaine. It was the second Senate race Allen lost, after losing his seat to Jim Webb in 2006. "Two big losses in a row make it tough for George Allen to try yet again to make a comeback," said Mark Rozell, professor of Public Policy at George Mason …
Tuesday, November 6, 2012
Virginia is still too close to call as precinct results roll in.
Update 10:04 a.m. Wednesday, Nov. 7 - With all Virginia precincts finally reporting, President Barack Obama received 1,868,191 votes from Virginia voters, according to final but unofficial data from the Virginia State Board of Elections. That's 50.57 percent of the vote. Gov. Mitt Romney received 1,767,692 votes, or 47.85 percent. The three third-party candidates on the ballot received a combined 1.42 percent of votes, and write-in candidates the remainder. The race was too close late Tuesday night, even hours after multiple national news outlets called the race nationally. ------------- Original post, Tuesday, Nov. 6 updated 2 a.m. Wednesday, Nov. 7 President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden were re-elected Tuesday night, …
Voters in Fairfax City lean left, in line with much of Virginia in Tuesday's elections.
Update Wednesday 12:21 a.m.: A majority of Fairfax City voters chose the Democratic candidates on the ballot Tuesday, putting their weight behind President Barack Obama, Senate candidate Tim Kaine (D) and U.S. Rep Gerry Connolly (D-11th). According to final unofficial results posted around 12:34 a.m. Wednesday, 56.82 percent of Fairfax City voters supported President Barack Obama; 41.34 percent supported former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney. Senate candidate Tim Kaine (D) earned 58.51 percent of the city's vote, while George Allen (R) trailed with 41.24 percent. U.S. Rep Gerry Connolly (D) swept the city in each of its six precincts. Turnout was high in many of the city's precincts. Election officials at Precinct One in Fairfax City …
Incumbent Gerry Connolly (D) beats out challenger Chris Perkins (R) and four other candidates.
Final unofficial results around 1:14 a.m. Wednesday showed U.S. Rep Gerry Connolly easily outpacing Republican challenger Chris Perkins, with 60.06 percent of the vote to Perkins' 26.22 percent across the 11th District. Connolly won by at least 15 percentage points in all three of the 11th District jurisdictions, defeating Perkins 58.87 to 37.48 percent in Fairfax County; 55.36 to 40.44 percent in Fairfax City; and 65.91 to 30.11 percent in Prince William County, according to the State Board of Elections. As of 1:14 a.m. Wednesday, all precincts in the 11th District had reported their results. Update 10:31 p.m.: In a victory speech for several hundred people gathered in Tysons Corner, Gerry Connolly said voters in Virginia's 11th District…
Monday, November 5, 2012
The Green Party candidate for Virginia's 11th congressional District is fed up with politics in Washington. How would he change things up?
(Editor's note: One of the greatest powers Americans have is their right to vote. Patch respects that, and wants our readership to be as informed as possible before walking into that voting booth on Tuesday. With that in mind, this is the fifth in a series of in-depth interviews with candidates vying for Virginia’s 11th congressional District seat.) Playing hardball with China, reforming America's two-party political system and running as a third-party candidate were discussed this week in an interview with Joe Galdo, the Green Party candidate for Virginia's 11th congressional District seat. Galdo spoke with Patch from his home in Fairfax. Galdo, 66, has less than $10,000 campaign cash on-hand, and faces incumbent Democrat Rep. Gerry …
In 2008, Barack Obama was the first Democrat to take Virginia since 1964. In 2012, the contest between the president and Republican hopeful is still too close to call.
President Barack Obama took Virginia in 2008, marking the first time the Commonwealth has gone blue since 1964. But it's too early to tell which way voters will go on Tuesday, or whether the changing demographics of Virginia and voter enthusiasm will have an effect on which candidate takes Virginia's 13 electoral votes. Virginia is one of just a few swing states in this year's presidential election. “The challenge for the Obama campaign is to try to rekindle the magic,” said Stephen Farnsworth, a professor of political science at University of Mary Washington. “You had great excitement among African Americans, and young people especially, four years ago. The indication so far is that there’s some enthusiasm, but not comparable to four …
Fairfax City residents cast about 900 less absentee ballots this year than in 2008.
While people across the country may be turning out in large numbers to vote early, absentee voting in Fairfax County is down slightly from the 2008 presidential election. As of Nov. 2, there were 13,799 voters registered in Fairfax City, down from the 15,506 voters registered in 2008. Fairfax City had received 1,512 completed absentee ballots as of 3 p.m. Friday, nearly 11 percent of the city's registered voters. Fairfax City residents cast 2,404 total absentee ballots in 2008, according to the Cook Report Absentee Ballot Tracker. The Cook Report also shows early voting is down more in localities that went Democratic in the 2004 and 2008 elections. Areas in Virginia that voted for Obama in 2008 were saw a decrease of about 14 percent in …
Tuesday, October 23, 2012
Candidates discussed the Middle East, defense and more.
With Election Day fast approaching, President Barack Obama and Gov. Mitt Romney faced off in the third and final Presidential Debate Monday night. The debate, hosted by Lynn University in Boca Raton, Fla., focused mainly on foreign policy, including conflicts in the Middle East, the civil war in Syria and the Sept. 11, 2012, killings of four American officials in Libya. Romney congratulated Obama for successfully killing Osama bin Laden, but ultimately questioned his policies on the Middle East, charging that the unrest in Egypt and Libya had created a “rising tide of chaos.” He said America needed an expansive plan to handle the situation. “We can’t kill our way out of this mess,” Romney said. “We’re going to have to put in place a very …
Monday, October 22, 2012
Tell us: In last meeting before the Nov. 6 election, which presidential candidate performed best in Monday's debate?
President Barack Obama and Republican hopeful Mitt Romney met Monday night for their third and final debate this election season, this time coming to the same table to answer questions on national security, the war in Iraq and jobs overseas, among other topics. The candidates also sparred on military spending, with Romney making a case for an expanded Naval fleet in a plan to increase military spending. Obama, who says he's met with military leaders to develop a reduced budget for the country's armed forces, said Monday that Romney's hike is money "our military doesn't need," noting the country also has " fewer horses and bayonets." "We have these things called aircraft carriers and planes land on them. We have ships that go underwater, …
Friday, October 19, 2012
Follow Patch for updates Friday as President Barack Obama hosts a campaign rally at GMU.
12:41 p.m. update - Bringing up healthcare reform again today in Northern Virginia at a campaign stop at George Mason University, President Obama told the crowd, "If you've come down with Romnesia and can’t remember the promises you've made, don’t worry — Obamacare covers pre-existing conditions.” President Obama's speech this morning before hundreds of students, community members, the media and local politicians focused primarily on women, healthcare and the economy, which seem to be defining the last weeks of this presidential election cycle. President Obama left George Mason University after noon today. The next presidential debate is Monday, Oct. 22. Patch will have a wrap-up article later today with more details about President Obama…
KEL
5:13 pm on Wednesday, November 14, 2012
Marshall, I have yet to see any post from you that has any real world factual evidence to back up any of your preposterous claims; all we get is some link to the Washingtontimes, some rehash from drudge, some crap scraped from blogs or position papers from some college or think tank hack. Come on man, produce something original worthy of our discussion or go the way of the rest of your dinosaur … more ›