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And up until 20 years ago it was easy for handicappers to lose their shirts betting on Republican dark horses in state elections, a pattern that was markedly ignored in presidential races by Virginia’s overwhelmingly Democratic but conservative electorate.
Democratic dominance in Virginia, however, is no longer the case, although the GOP is far from converting the Old Dominion into a one-party, Republican state.
Still, the fact that the GOP can put its candidate into office and that a Democratic victory is no longer a foregone conclusion is considered something of a success.
“Despite the Republican’s electoral record in recent years, Virginia is not a oneparty Republican state, subject to the kind of rigid control once exercised by the Democratic Byrd Machine in the days when the pool of voters was severely restricted,’’ said political analyst Larry Sabato, a University of Virginia professor.
If one event signalled a shift of voters’ political attitudes—in fact, a shift of the electorate in general—it was the 1966 Democratic primary. That muggy day in July always will be
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