On November 8, Virginia elects a new legislature. Virginia has 100 House seats, all of which are up. In only 29 districts will voters see both a Democrat and a Republican on the ballot. Most districts only have one person on the ballot. Also running for the 100 House seats are five independent candidates, two Independent Green Party nominees, and two Libertarians.
Long-time independent House member Lacey Putney is running for re-election again. He has opponents from both major parties. He is age 83, and has been re-elected as an independent candidate every two years, starting in 1971, for a total of twenty elections in a row. Before he was an independent, he had been in the legislature for ten years as a Democrat.
In the 40 State Senate contests, there are three independent candidates and one nominee of the Independent Green Party.
VA – Home of Washington, Jefferson and Madison.
How many safe seat gerrymander MONSTERS in VA since 1618 — creation of the first gerrymander legislative body in a Brit-American colony.
P.R. NOW — ZERO safe seat districts.
This should disprove the idea of having a cluttered ballot if you lower ballot access requirement. Richard What is virgina’s requirement for state house? It’s alot lower then nc’s if I recall.
250 signatures for State Senate, 125 for State House.
Thanks for the story. There is more to the tale.
Redistricting has been brutal. Only two weeks before the deadline could local board of elections begin to verify signatures.
This lead to a multitude of Indy Green candidates failing to make the ballot. They simply did not learn how many valid signatures they had in time to collect more.
Another – new state requirement – meant that most of the Independents on the ballot could be on the ballot as Independent Greens.
The new law required candidates to file affidavits accepting nomination. The Indy Greens became aware of the requirement too late to contact all their candidates.
A tough year all around. Redistricting created even more hurdles for the Independent Greens of Virginia than usual.
Thanks for covering the story.
Ugh! My wife is from Virginia and it is one of my favorite states. I have been there many times and I have considered it “like home” even as I grew up in NY. Between the Founding Fathers and the scenery, it is a great state. I agree with # 2. Additionally, maybe this is another sign that the two parties are of one heart and one mind. There is no need to run against someone if they think like you do. Yes, districts are gerrymandered but these elections remind me of the Soviet elections of the early 1980’s……….once candidate….
Of the 71 one party gerrymander districts —
A 51 majority of Donkeys (unlikely) or Elephants (quite possible) ???
i.e. a tyrant regime of gerrymander robot party hacks controlling a major State ???
Wow, and I thought only having 2 candidates in my local councillor elections with an electorate of < 1,000 voters was bad.
Only 9 candidates outside the main two parties is seriously depressing for 100 seats.