The November election results are in. It is time to look at how the races fared and what impact the Wesleyan community had on Election Day.
According to The New York Times, following the Virginia General Election on Nov. 5, there has been a major shift in our representation. The Virginia State Senate now consists of 21 Democrats and 19 Republicans. The Virginia House of Delegates now consists of 54 Democrats and 43 Republicans.
The Washington Post wrote, “Because Virginia has a Democratic governor, Democrats will have full control of Virginia’s government for the first time in 26 years. This gives the party nearly unfettered power to redraw state legislative and congressional districts, setting the course for Virginia politics for the next decade.”
In Virginia Beach, Senate District Seven, Republican Jen Kiggans won the seat with 50.4% of the votes to Democrat Cheryl Turpin’s 49.6% according to The Washington Post.
For the House of Delegates in Virginia Beach, District 83 Republican incumbent, Christopher Stolle, lost the seat to Democratic candidate Nancy Guy by .2% according to Ballotpedia.
Many Virginia Wesleyan University students turned out to the polls and submitted absentee ballots. Among them was Justin Robins. “I always thought that living in a democratic society, voting is the best way to help out,” the junior said.
“Overall, I thought the election results went well. Usually my emotions are mixed about the results, but I think that this one went well … My emotions are usually mixed because I usually feel like people get elected based on personality or their party rather than on issues, but this one was different.”
“I feel like there were a lot more environmental issues addressed. Where I live, the watershed is a big part of life. A lot of the candidates elected were big on fixing the environmental issues that matter to me … Environmental issues here affect the rest of the world because the Chesapeake Bay is such a huge port … even people from New York drink our water.”
“Social equality and environmental issues are the most important to me, so I believe that the shift from Republican to Democrat is a good thing because while neither side has it all right, the work that needs to be done to repair social and environmental issues will benefit from a Democrat house and senate,” Robins said.
Dalton Powers
dmpowers@vwu.edu
