Congratulations to the newest delegate from Norfolk, Daun Hester. In a low turnout special election Tuesday, Hester won 93.5% of the vote. The seat in the 89th House district became vacant when former occupant, Kenny Alexander, was elected to the Senate to fill the remaining term of Yvonne Miller, who died in July. Hester will … Continue reading Congratulations, Del. Hester!
The election for the open seat in the 89th House of Delegates is today. If you live in the 89th, please go and vote. Former Norfolk council member Daun Hester is the Democratic nominee. There is no Republican candidate. James St. John is running as an independent. The polls opened at 6am this morning and … Continue reading 89th House special election TODAY
My latest op-ed, title above, appeared in Wednesday's Virginian-Pilot. The root is, I believe, redistricting, with the latest manifestation of this being a bill introduced in the Virginia legislature by Sen. Bill Carrico. It is quickly becoming fodder for columns across the internet and on television. The bill, if it became law, would allocate our … Continue reading The root of divisiveness in our politics
With the election in our rear view mirror, and with additional data available from the State Board of Elections, we can now take a look at how the 16 localities - six counties and ten cities - that comprise Hampton Roads voted in November. With 1,129,345 registered voters, Hampton Roads comprises nearly 21% of the … Continue reading How Hampton Roads voted
Although published just after the election, I didn't run across this until yesterday. Frank Rich does a good job in this piece. Worth the read.
Sens. Mark Warner and Chris Coons introduced legislation today aimed at voting reforms. The FAST Voting Act of 2012 "creates a competitive grant program to encourage states to aggressively pursue election reforms. It would provide incentives for states like Virginia to invest in practices and technology designed to expedite voting at the polls and simplify … Continue reading Warner co-sponsors voting reforms legislation
So Mitt Romney claims he lost because of "big policy “gifts” that the president had bestowed on loyal Democratic constituencies, including young voters, African-Americans and Hispanics." According to a recording of the call, partially aired by ABC, Romney actually said: What the president, president's campaign did was focus on certain members of his base coalition, … Continue reading Where’s mine?
With the election last week and all that entailed, I didn't get a chance to write my weekly op-ed for its usual Wednesday publication. I got in done in time for Friday's paper. In it, I addressed the long lines that voters experienced last Tuesday. As a political observer, I don't recall a previous time … Continue reading ICYMI: Those long, unnecessary lines
One of the characterizations of America that I have difficulty with is that we are a center-right nation. Results from last Tuesday should disabuse us of that notion once and for all: With 120,871,984 votes cast, President Barack Obama received 62,088,847 votes and Mitt Romney received 58,783,137. Some have argued that the president is really … Continue reading Myth: “We are a center-right country”
My friend, Coby Dillard, has posted a rather lengthy screed on his Facebook page about the lack of Republican outreach to the black community. My response to him is far too long to post there, even if I wanted to. So here it is. I believe Coby missed a much larger point in his missive, … Continue reading Race and voting
VIVIAN J. PAIGE | All Politics is Local 