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Rv GEORGE BOWLES
Seldom in the Old Dominion's recent political history have two House of Delegates primaries had such widespread domino effects. Chief among these appears to be a potential major shift of legislative power from the Tidewater to Northern Virginia.
As primary elections go, those held on Tuesday of last week had attracted little attention outside the areas in which they took place. Indeed, in the 100 House of Delegates Districts only six candidates — five Democrats and one Republican — were chosen to contested primaries. The rest were nominated by conventions or proclaimed the candidate of the party in uncontested elections.
But the stunning outcomes in two of the Democratic contests have already guaranteed that there will be a major reshuffling of important House committee chairmanships when the General Assembly convenes in January. Tuesday’s election results could affect the leadership of as many as a third of the 20 House standing committees.
The first of those upsets was the defeat of Del. Claude W. Anderson of Buckingham in the Southside's 59th House District. Anderson was easily outpolled by political newcomer Watkins M. Abbitt Jr. of Appomattox, son of the former 4th District
86.9%