Today’s Washington Post reports that the change in control in Virginia Senate could derail Republican efforts to push through statewide legislation aimed at illegal immigration:
RICHMOND, Nov. 8 — House Republican leaders, who made immigration a centerpiece of the fall campaign, said Thursday that efforts in the Virginia General Assembly to crack down on illegal immigrants probably are doomed because of losses their party suffered in the election this week.
“It’s dead on arrival,” said Del. David B. Albo, (R-Fairfax), who chairs the Virginia Crime Commission, which is considering immigration proposals. “It’s very disappointing.”
House leaders said they still would introduce anti-illegal immigration bills, including those that would prohibit illegal immigrants from attending public colleges, require sheriffs to check immigration status and suspend the business licenses of companies that hire illegal immigrants.
They said, however, that even if the GOP-led House approves the proposals, they are not optimistic that the Senate, which will be controlled by Democrats for the first time in a decade, would consider any of them. Gov. Timothy M. Kaine (D) has said he believes immigration policy is largely a federal issue.
“It’s going to be a lot tougher,” said Del. Terry G. Kilgore (R-Scott), chairman of the House Republican caucus. “I’m sure it’s not on the top of [the Democrats] list. . . . But we are going to push forward.”
Sen. Richard L. Saslaw (D-Fairfax), who is poised to become majority leader in the Senate, accused Republicans of using the illegal immigration issue to try to win voters in Tuesday’s legislative elections and said his chamber would not tolerate the same kind of “grandstanding.” Many of the House and Senate candidates who embraced the party’s stance on illegal immigration lost, including several in Northern Virginia.
Saslaw said he would consider all legislation but immigration is not one of his priorities. Instead, he would rather see lawmakers revisit the costly and contentious abusive-driver fees, the budget shortfall and education funding.
Of course, some Republicans are arguing that Richmond’s anticipated failure to act on the issue of illegal immigration will be to their benefit, and point to the success of Prince William County’s Republicans as support for their argument. Politically, though, it’s not clear that the issue translates well outside of Prince William County, or that it’s the kind of issue that plays well in state legislative elections.
For example, over in Fairfax County, Gerry Connolly’s commanding victory over Gary Baise pretty much guarantees that Fairfax will not be following in it’s neighbors footsteps:
Fairfax County Board of Supervisors Chairman Gerald E. Connolly (D) swept all nine magisterial districts in his thumping of Republican Gary H. Baise on Tuesday. He carried Sully and Springfield — which he lost to Mychele B. Brickner (R) in 2003 — by comfortable margins.
A closer look at the returns confirms that Connolly was successful in neutralizing illegal immigration as an issue. Connolly opposed get tough measures touted by other candidates such as withholding services and involving local police in immigration enforcement. Yet he won Herndon, the region’s longtime immigration battleground, with nearly 57 percent of the vote, better than his showing in 2003.
The same appears to be the case in Loudoun County where Republicans who ran on a platform similar to those of their colleagues in Prince William were defeated by Democrats who ran on a slow-growth platform.
More importantly, though, given the election results, the prospects of the Republican Party being able to significantly reverse the political trends that we’ve seen in Northern Virginia for the past several seem slim indeed.
