Dems likely to gain at least 1 Va. seat

By LARRY O'DELL
Associated Press Writer
Published: November 4, 2008

RICHMOND, Va. (AP)—Democrats fielded candidates in all 11 Virginia congressional races Tuesday and appeared likely to shrink the Republicans’ 8-3 advantage by at least one seat.

As usual, the best chance for a partisan switch was in an open seat - northern Virginia’s 11th District, where Republican Rep. Tom Davis is retiring. Gerald Connolly, chairman of the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors, was favored to defeat lesser-known Republican Keith Fimian.

Along with name recognition, Connolly benefits from demographic changes that have made the district more Democratic. Davis was able to hold the seat for seven terms primarily because of his moderate views and the advantage of incumbency. Virginia has not ousted a U.S. House incumbent since Davis defeated Democrat Leslie Byrne in the 1994 GOP landslide.

Democrats sensed that this could be a good year to end the drought of failed challenges. President Bush’s popularity has plummeted since he carried Virginia with 54 percent of the vote in 2004, and voters have become increasingly disillusioned over the war in Iraq and the failing economy.

Republican incumbents Thelma Drake in the 2nd District and Virgil Goode in the 5th faced tough challenges from Democrats Glenn Nye and Tom Perriello, respectively. National Democrats also targeted northern Virginia’s 10th District, where Judy Feder tried for the second time to oust Republican Frank Wolf.

The odds were longer for other challengers: Democrat Bill Day vs. Rep. Rob Wittman, R-1st; Democrat Andrea Miller vs. Rep. Randy Forbes, R-4th; Democrat Sam Rasoul vs. Rep. Bob Goodlatte, R-6th; Democrat Anita Hartke vs. Rep. Eric Cantor, R-7th; and Republican Mark Ellmore vs. Rep. Jim Moran, D-8th.

Democratic Reps. Bobby Scott in the 3rd District and Rick Boucher in the 9th had no Republican opposition.