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"Fifth
District Rep. Virgil H. Goode Jr., R-Rocky Mount, rode a sea of Southside
Virginia votes to a landslide
victory Tuesday for a fourth term in Congress.
Goode won 63.5 percent of the vote to Charlottesville City Councilor
Meredith Richards' nearly 36.5 percent as the Republican incumbent carried
every locality in the district with the exception of Charlottesville and
Brunswick County.
"It turned out better than I thought it was going to," Goode
said in a telephone interview four hours after the polls closed.
"She ran a hard-fought campaign, and she had persons who were strongly
for her," he said. "I had persons who were strongly for me. There
was an array of issues, and the voters had a clear choice."
Addressing a boisterous crowd of about 150 at Danville's Carrington Center,
Goode credited his victory to an army of volunteers and paid tribute to
U.S. Sen. George Allen, R-Fairfax County.
"I was deeply touched and appreciative that Sen. Allen would personally
go to work polls in his old home of Albemarle County," Goode said.
Goode rolled up huge margins over Richards in the Southside counties
of Franklin, his home, Pittsylvania and Campbell, all with more than 70
percent of their votes. He carried more than 65 percent of the votes in
the nearby counties of Mecklenburg, Lunenburg, Henry, Charlotte, Bedford,
Appomattox and Cumberland.
Richards carried
Charlottesville with 5,640 votes, or 66 percent, to 2,889 votes, or
34 percent, for Goode. Democrats noted that her Charlottesville and Albemarle
County total was 628 votes higher than Goode's, although
[Goode] carried Albemarle, the largest county in the district, with
12,950 votes to her 10,827.
Richards adopted a feisty tone in her concession speech to more than
100 Democrats at The Flower Market in downtown Charlottesville.
Before her remarks, Richards said that she "absolutely" was
thinking of challenging Goode again in two years. "We fought a good
fight."
"We have nothing to be ashamed of and everything to be proud of,"
Richards told the cheering crowd. "In the six months we had, we opened
some eyes and changed some minds, just not enough."
"We made the impossible possible, and though we fell short, we did
so nobly," Richards concluded.
She later said that she was planning on another challenge to Goode in
2004 and added, "I'm going to start early."
Democratic Party leaders credited Richards with running an energetic
campaign and rebuilding a party that was not strong in many parts of the
sprawling rural district nearly the size of the state of New Jersey.
If her total vote was about 37 percent, "that's not real encouraging"
for a second run, said J. Lloyd Snook III, Charlottesville's Democratic
Party co-chairman. "Whoever runs, whether it's Meredith or somebody
else, they are going to have to start before May," he said, referring
to the Richards campaign's relatively late start.
Democrat Meredith Richards' 36.39% of the vote was greater than the 35.8%
of the vote received by Republican George Landrith in his contest against
then Democratic Virgil Goode in 1996 and also better than the 30.7% of the
vote received by Democrat John Boyd against then Independent Virgil Goode
in 2000.
Richards' 36.39% of the vote also bested her own poll figure taken last
August of 31%.
For more, see Calculating
the Spread. |
State Sen. R. Creigh Deeds, D-Bath County, said the Democratic Party
was demoralized in much of the Southside 5th District after Goode's party
switch to the Republicans. "Meredith went into the 5th District and
energized the base," Deeds said
Del. Mitchell Van Yahres, D-Charlottesville, said that Goode "has
got a district that is extremely conservative as a whole. He's got far more
name recognition. He's been around a whole lot longer, and he's a professional
politician."
Van Yahres did not call Richards a professional politician, saying instead,
"She's a part-time politician, and that's the essence of our system"
below the federal level.
Van Yahres said people should remember that Goode "drew the district
lines" during last year's redistricting process. The state's eight
Republican members of Congress all had a major say in how the new lines
of their districts were carved and tended to shed Democratic pockets of
voters to other districts, making their incumbency less subject to challenge.
"He, in essence, drew the lines to survive," said Van Yahres,
who voted on the GOP plan.
Van Yahres said Richards was strong on economic issues of concern to
many voters and ran an energetic campaign in six months.
William B. Harvey, chairman of the Albemarle County Democratic Party,
said Richards would have done better with more time and more money. She
raised nearly $200,000 to at least four times that amount raised by Goode.
When asked about election campaign reforms and asked to assess what a
minimum ballpark figure might be for running a race against an incumbent
in Virginia, Larry Sabato responded:
"Maybe $300-400,000. But geography is destiny, and events are in
the saddle. Weak candidates can spend millions and lose badly, strong candidates
can spend relatively little and win (or come close).
Reforms: tax credit for small contributions, instant internet disclosure
for everyone/every group in politics, and free or discounted TV time (via
vouchers). That's it. Nothing else works well.
Larry Sabato (electronic mail, November 8, 2002) |
"I was very pleased by her effort," Harvey said. "She
worked as hard as any candidate I've ever seen, and if she'd started two
years ago and had $300,000 in the bank when she started, we might be looking
at a different result."
"Winning the city by 2,700 votes is damn good," said James
M. Heilman, former Albemarle voter registrar. "I think that Virgil's
campaign, and his statements about how terrible it would be to have someone
from Charlottesville, well, that offends Charlottesville and Albemarle County
voters." (Bob Gibson and George Whitehurst, The Daily Progress,
November 6, 2002)
A Comparison of Distribution of Voting
Patterns Among Political Parties in Charlottesville and Albemarle in Three
Recent Elections:
| November 6, 2001 Election for Governor
In the November 6, 2001 election for governor, Democrat
Mark Warner received 14,891 votes or 56.11% to Republican Mark Earley's 11,143 votes or 41.99%
in Albemarle County [William Redpath received 373 votes and there
were 21 write-ins].
In Charlottesville, Democrat Mark Warner
received 6,781 votes or 72.87% to Republican
Mark Earley's 2,316 votes or 24.89% [William Redpath received
193 votes and there were 16 write-ins]. Voter turnout in Charlottesville
was 43.7%.
Voter turnout statewide
was 46.38%, where Democrat Mark Warner
984,177 votes or 52.16% to Mark Earley's
887,234 votes or 47.03%.
Note 1: Democrat Meredith Richards
45.5% vote in Albemarle in the November 5, 2002 Virginia 5th
District Congressional election against Republican
Virgil Goode compares unfavorably to Democrat
Mark Warner's 56.11% vote in the November 6, 2001 election
for governor in Albemarle against Republican Mark
Earley: a negative difference of 10.61% between votes
for Democrat Mark Warner in the election
for Governor of Virginia and votes for Democrat
Meredith Richards in the election for the United States House
of Representatives.
Note 2: In Charlottesville, the difference is less pronounced,
where Mark Warner's 72.87% compares
with Meredith Richards' more recent
65.92%, or a 6.95% negative change.
* * * * *
December 18, 2001 Special Election
In the December 18, 2001 special election for the 25th district senate
seat for the general assembly, Democrat Creigh
Deeds received 7,990 votes or 56.66% to Republican
Jane Maddux's 6,097 votes or 43.2% in Albemarle County
[there were 14 write-in votes].
In Charlottesville, Creigh Deeds received 4,473 votes or 76.09%
to Republican Jane Maddux's 1,384 votes or 23.54% [there were 6 write-in
votes].
Voter turnout districtwide
was 27.6%, where Democrat Creigh Deeds
received 20,093 votes or 68.74% to Republican
Jane Maddux's 9,117 votes or 31.19%
Note 1: In the November 5, 2002 Virginia 5th District Congressional
election, Democrat Meredith Richards
45.5% vote in Albemarle against Republican
Virgil Goode bested Republican Jane
Maddux's 43.2% vote against Democrat
Creigh Deeds.
Note 2: In Charlottesville, Democrat
Meredith Richards' 65.92% vote against Republican
Virgil Goode in the November 5, 2002 Virginia 5th District Congressional
election was somewhat under that of Democrat Creigh
Deeds' 76.09% against Republican
Jane Maddux in the special election for the 25th district senate
seat: a negative difference of 10.17% between what Democrat
Creigh Deeds received and Democrat Meredith
Richards received in their respective races.
Note 3: In
the Democratic nominating convention, Creigh Deeds received 129 raw
votes from Albemarle County. Nancy O'Brien received 93 raw votes.
Meredith Richards received 51 raw votes and Al Weed received 19 raw votes.
This translates into 17, 12, 6 and 2 convention votes respectively.
From Charlottesville, Creigh Deeds received 79 raw votes. Nancy
O'Brien received 158 raw votes. Meredith Richards received 98 raw votes
and Al Weed received 51 raw votes. This translates into 5, 10, 6 and 3 convention
votes respectively.
In the Democratic nomination convention districtwide, Creigh Deeds
received 307 raw votes. Nancy O'Brien received 255 raw votes. Meredith Richards
received 157 raw votes and Al Weed received 90 raw votes. This translates
into 50, 23, 13 & 8 convention votes respectively.
* * * * *
2002 Virginia 5th District Congressional Race
In the 2002 Virginia 5th district congressional race, Republican
incumbent Virgil Goode received 12,950 votes or 54.4%
to Democrat Meredith Richards' 10,872
or 45.5% in Albemarle County [there were 26 write-ins].
In Charlottesville, Democrat Meredith
Richards received 5,683 votes or 65.92% to Republican
incumbent Virgil Goode's 2,888 or 33.77%. [There were
27 write-ins.]
Voter turnout districtwide
was 39.33%, where Republican incumbent Virgil Goode
received 94,631 or 63.52% to Democrat Meredith
Richards' 54,299 votes or 36.45%.
Note: In the November 6, 2001 race for governor and in the December
18, 2001 special election, contestants were running for open seats and were
well funded. |
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