Below The Beltway

Three things happened on Tuesday in Virginia.
First, Mark Warner sailed to election as Virginia’s new Senator after a campaign against Jim Gilmore that was never really a contest.
Second, Barack Obama became the first Democratic candidate for President since Lyndon Johnson to win Virginia’s Electoral Votes.
And, third, the political divide between Northern Virginia and the rest [...]

There’s no denying it this morning, yesterday was a very good day for Democrat’s in Virginia.
First, Mark Warner won Virginia’s open Senate seat in a cakewalk:
Democrat Mark R. Warner cruised to a decisive victory in the U.S. Senate race against Republican James S. Gilmore III yesterday, giving Virginia two Democratic senators for the first time [...]

This one was no surprise at all:
Democrat Mark R. Warner decisively won his Senate race in Virginia against Republican James S. Gilmore III today, giving Senate Democrats one of the crucial seats they sought in their bid to tighten their grip on Congress.
In a contest between former Virginia governors, Warner cruised to victory to take [...]

The latest Washington Post poll of the Virginia Senate race confirms something we’ve known for awhile now:
Republican James S. Gilmore III has gained no ground in his U.S. Senate campaign against Democrat Mark R. Warner, according to a new Washington Post poll, despite Gilmore’s attempts in recent weeks to hammer Warner for his support of [...]

At this point, the Virginia Senate Race is all over except for the vote-counting:
The only real question in the Virginia Senate race seems to be whether Democratic candidate Mark Warner will have coattails enough to help swing the state into Barack Obama’s column on Election Day.
In the battle between ex-governors, Warner leads Republican Jim Gilmore [...]

In case you missed it, here’s the complete video of last week’s final debate between Mark Warner and Jim Gilmore:

H/T: College Republican Federation of Virginia

Retiring Virginia Congressman Tom Davis is the subject of an article in today’s New York Times Magazine, and he doesn’t hold much back:
Tom Davis arrived in Congress with the Gingrich class of 1994, again ousting an incumbent Democrat, but he was hardly a revolutionary. Davis was a business-oriented Republican animated by economic competitiveness, fiscal responsibility [...]

As Mike Allen originally reported over at The Politico, Virginia’s outgoing Republican Senator hinted yesterday that he might vote for the Democrat running to succeed him:
RICHMOND, Oct. 4 — Retiring Sen. John W. Warner said Saturday that he has not decided whether to vote for the Republican seeking to replace him, citing James S. Gilmore [...]

There hasn’t been much good news for Jim Gilmore lately. He’s far behind in the polls, has barely enough money to run an effective media campaign, and just isn’t getting the media attention that he would if his race against Mark Warner were closer.
So, it’s not surprising that he took the opportunity of last night’s [...]

Along with the poll that came out earlier this week, there’s yet more evidence that the Virginia Senate race is, for all purposes, effectively over:
There are no surprises in the latest polling on the U.S. Senate race in Virginia.
The latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey finds former Democratic Governor Mark Warner’s with 60% of the vote [...]