Text by Stephen Farnsworth; Map by Stephen Hanna
This is what democracy looks like, Virginia style.
Come January, all 40 seats of its state Senate will be occupied by the same party that held the seats before the Nov. 3 elections. In the House of Delegates, only three of 100 districts will be represented by a candidate from a different party than the current office-holder, and all three were open-seat (i.e. no incumbent running) contests in northern Virginia.
Incumbents have a sweet ride in the commonwealth. A total of 122 current office-holders ran for reelection to the 140 seats in the Virginia Legislature, and all 122 were reelected. Seventeen of the 40 Senate seats were uncontested, as were 62 of the 100 House districts.
Others were only barely contested.
