Dear all: some reflections from the campaign, the first battle in the fight for the soul of the Commonwealth and the country.
1. It was all about the women. You ran and you won. You organized and you volunteered. And you voted. Of the fifteen House of Delegate seats we won outright, ten of the winners were women. All fifteen of the Republicans who lost were men. Mostly old, all white, and much too comfortable in their reactionary ways. Richmond will never be the same, and I thank God for that.
And yes, many men came to their senses; almost half of us voted for Ralph Northam. We still have plenty of work to do, but it's a start.
2. The new generation is ready. I would venture to say that all the new Democratic winners in the House of Delegates are younger than the Republicans they replace. This is an amazing turn of events. By challenging the dinosaurs in the House of Delegates, the Democrats shone a bright light on their damaging and obstructionist votes. This election was about more than Donald Trump. It unseated men who were Trumpian before the word was even invented. It talked about education, women's reproductive rights, the environment for future generations, tolerance and diversity.
3. Who actually voted? Overall turnout increased by five percentage points, from 42.7% in the 2013 Governor's race to 47.6% in 2017. While this turnout is still a little disappointing, considering what was at stake, the details reveal some interesting facts. On the Democratic side, four demographic groups increased their turnout participation by more than 5 percentage points: College students (plus 8 points), Millennials (plus 8 points), Asian (plus 7 points), and Latino (plus 6 points). On the Republican side, only one group, high income voters in the Southwest part of the state, increased 6 percentage points. This bodes well for the future: we have many more potential votes out there!
4. Arlington stands tall once again. Arlington increased its turnout from 42.4% in 2013 to an astounding 52,3% in 2017. We were fired up, and not even a cold rain all afternoon could dampen our spirits. We did our part in delivering a margin of more than 52,000 votes to the statewide margin of 232,000. The statewide margin was even bigger than the margin for Hillary in 2016, and with fewer votes cast, and McAuliffe in 2013. Arlington cast 80.1% of its votes for Ralph Northam and only 18.9% for Ed Gillespie.
5. Thrifton and Cherrydale precincts did their part. Thrifton voters cast 70.85% of their votes for Ralph Northam, and 28,5% for Ed Gillespie. Cherrydale went 78.47% for Ralph Northam and 20.88% for Ed Gillespie. The totals do not include the absentee votes from these precincts, which are aggregated into one separate precinct. The overall absentee precinct voted 85.4 % for Ralph Northam. I am proud and happy that these two precincts added a combined margin of 1567 votes (888 from Cherrydale and 679 from Thrifton) to Ralph Northam's margin, plus a considerable number of absentee votes from our precincts.
One can only hope that the results of this election can be repeated throughout the country in the future. That a huge new pool of talented (women!) candidates will emerge to challenge the old guard. That the college voters and the millennials will embrace the political process and use it to shape their futures. That the under-represented minorities will realize the power of the ballot box in furthering their interests and maximizing their contribution to the community. That sanity and honesty and integrity will return to the political discussion.
I close by sincerely thanking each and every one of you who contributed to the victory. I know many of you canvassed, made phone calls, made donations, put signs in your yard, talked to friends, neighbors and relatives, handed out flyers, delivered papers, worked in the cold and rain on election day and did so many more things, both big and small. to make this possible.
Best wishes to all,
Jack Hastings
Thrifton Precinct Co-captain