By Katie Gorka
Tuesday was a hard night for Virginia conservatives, and there is no point pretending otherwise. We lost two congressional seats, our Senate nominee fell short, and all three constitutional amendments passed comfortably. But a hard night is not the end of the story. How we respond in the weeks and years ahead matters more than any single election.
The national tide was strong. Democrats won control of both the U.S. House and Senate, flipping seats in Virginia, Texas and elsewhere. Virginia was not immune. Yet the results also show where our ground held and where it can be won back.
Republicans lost two U.S. House seats in Virginia, leaving Democrats with eight of the state’s eleven.
There is good news too. Rep. Ben Cline held the 6th District, and Rep. Morgan Griffith held the 9th. In the 5th, Rep. John McGuire leads former Rep. Tom Perriello with about 50.3 percent and a margin under 5,000 votes, despite being badly outspent. The state has not declared a winner, and results will not be certified until December.
This could have been so much worse. Six months ago, Democrats expected a new mid-decade congressional map to deliver them 10 of 11 seats. The Supreme Court of Virginia struck down that redistricting amendment in May because the legislature failed to follow the constitution’s process. Fair maps gave our candidates a fighting chance, and several of them used it.
More than 109,000 Fairfax County voters backed our Senate nominee, and our four federal candidates carried the conservative message into some of the toughest terrain in the Commonwealth. Countywide turnout was 55 percent, with 457,072 ballots cast. (Virginia Department of Elections, Fairfax County)
| Candidate | Race | Opponent | Fairfax County votes | Fairfax County share | Overall share |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bert Mizusawa | U.S. Senate | Sen. Mark Warner | 109,057 | 24.0% | 38.7% statewide |
| Arthur Purves | U.S. House, 11th District | Rep. James Walkinshaw | 75,886 | 24.7% | 24.7% districtwide |
| Tony Sabio | U.S. House, 8th District | Rep. Don Beyer | 30,074 | 22.1% | 18.0% districtwide |
| Dave Beckwith | U.S. House, 10th District | Rep. Suhas Subramanyam | 4,080 | 40.6% | about 37% districtwide |
Unofficial results; Fairfax County columns cover only the part of each district inside the county. Sources: Fairfax County results, statewide results, WUSA9.
These were uphill races, and every one of these candidates knew it going in. Bert Mizusawa, a retired Army major general, ran a statewide campaign on a shoestring. Arthur Purves and Tony Sabio took on entrenched incumbents in two of the most Democratic districts in the country, and Sabio ran four points ahead of his districtwide share here at home. Dave Beckwith, an Air Force veteran and former deputy assistant secretary of defense, won better than 40 percent in the Fairfax County portion of the 10th, outpacing his result across the district. We owe all four our thanks for stepping into the arena.
The good news is that the next contest is not far off. Next November, 52 state and local seats will be on the ballot in Fairfax County. These are the offices closest to home, the ones that shape our schools, our taxes, our safety and our neighborhoods. They are also the races where a strong candidate, a committed volunteer team and a few hundred doors knocked can make all the difference.
That work starts now. The Fairfax GOP is already recruiting candidates, building precinct teams and listening to voters who are tired of rising costs and of being ignored. Every seat we win back next year begins with a conversation this winter. If you have ever thought about running, volunteering or simply getting more involved, there has never been a better time. Reach out. Let us know!
Tuesday was one night. Next year is our chance to start winning back seats, and we intend to seize it.