Virginia politics

The current governor of Virginia is Tim Kaine. The				popularly-elected mayor who serves as chief
State Capitol building in Richmond was designed by				executive separate from the city council.
Thomas Jefferson, and the cornerstone was laid by				Virginia is an alcoholic beverage control state. Distilled
Governor Patrick Henry in 1785.				spirits, plus wine greater than 14% alcohol by volume,
In colonial Virginia, the lower house of the legislature				are available for off-premises sale solely in
was called the House of Burgesses. Together with the				state-owned and -operated retail outlets.
Governor's Council, the House of Burgesses made up				Politics
the General Assembly. The Governor's Council was				After William Mahone and the Readjuster Party lost
composed of 12 men appointed by the British Monarch				control of Virginia politics around 1883, the Democratic
to advise the Governor. The Council also served as				Party held a nearly unchallenged majority position of
the General Court of the colony, a colonial equivalent				state and most federal offices through the middle of
of a Supreme Court. Members of the House of				the 20th century. The Byrd Organization headed by
Burgesses were chosen by all those who could vote				Harry F. Byrd Sr. largely controlled statewide politics. In
in the colony. Each county chose two people or				1970, Republican A. Linwood Holton Jr. became the
burgesses to represent it, while the College of William				first Republican governor in the 20th century
and Mary and the cities of Norfolk, Williamsburg, and				effectively ending the influence of the Byrd
Jamestown each chose one burgess. The Burgesses				Organization. Holton was succeeded by two other
met to make laws for the colony and set the direction				Republican governors in the 1970s. Virginia has voted
for its future growth; the Council would then review the				for Republicans in every presidential election since 1952
laws and either approve or disapprove them. The				except for the Democratic landslide in 1964. Virginia's
approval of the Burgesses, the Council, and the				current streak of voting for Republicans in ten
governor was needed to pass a law. The idea of				consecutive presidential elections since 1968, when
electing burgesses was important and new. It gave				Richard Nixon began the Southern Strategy, is the
Virginians a chance to control their own government				longest among the former Confederate States. Virginia
for the first time. At first, the burgesses were elected				was the only such state to vote for Gerald Ford over
by all free men in the colony. Women, indentured				Jimmy Carter in 1976.
servants, and Native Americans could not vote. Later				Despite Virginia's support of Republican presidential
the rules for voting changed, making it necessary for				candidates and reputation as a conservative state,
men to own at least fifty acres (200,000 mÂ²) of				Democrats won all three gubernatorial elections in the
land in order to vote. Founded in 1619, the Virginia				1980s and maintained large majorities in both houses of
General Assembly is still in existence as the oldest				the Virginia General Assembly, however many
legislature in the New World. Today, the General				Democrats from rural and suburban districts had
Assembly is made up of the Senate and the House of				conservative stances on various issues. Virginia
Delegates.				experienced a political realignment in the 1990s as
Like many other states, by the 1850s Virginia featured				conservative Republicans George Allen and Jim
a state legislature, several executive officers, and an				Gilmore held the Governorship from 1994 until 2002.
independent judiciary. By the time of the Constitution of				Republicans captured both houses of the General
1901, which lasted longer than any other state				Assembly and built large majorities. Conservative and
constitution, the General Assembly continued as the				moderate Democrats from rural and suburban areas
legislature, the Supreme Court of Appeals acted as				were largely replaced by Republicans. Within the
the judiciary, and the eight elected executive officers				Republican party, the remnants of the less
were the Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Attorney				conservative "mountain-valley" faction of Holton, so
General, Secretary of the Commonwealth, State				named because many members were from the
Treasurer, Auditor of Public Accounts, Superintendent				Shenandoah Valley and Southwest Virginia, were
of Public Instruction and Commissioner of Agriculture				supplanted by more conservative office holders.
and Immigration. The Constitution of 1901 was				Virginia was considered a red state by political
amended many times, notably in the 1930s and 1950s,				analysts and most of its residents.
before it was abandoned in favor of more modern				Recently, Democrats have been gaining votes in
government, with fewer elected officials, reformed				Virginia. The Republican majorities in the General
local governments and a more streamlined judiciary.				Assembly have narrowed, particularly in the Senate
Virginia currently functions under the 1971 Constitution				where Democrats now occupy 17 out of the 40 seats.
of Virginia. It is the Commonwealth's ninth constitution.				In 2004, John Kerry won 45.48% of the vote in Virginia,
Under the Constitution, the government is composed				the highest percentage of any Democrat since Jimmy
of three branches: legislative, executive, and judicial.				Carter. Kerry won Fairfax County, long a Republican
Virginia is one of only five states that elects its state				stronghold, and fared much better in the rest of
officials in odd numbered years (The others are				Northern Virginia than Al Gore did in 2000. Though
Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, and New Jersey).				Northern Virginia continues to trend Democratic, most
Virginia holds elections for these offices every 4 years				of rural Virginia, once a Democratic stronghold, has
in the years following Presidential election years. Thus,				been trending Republican, balancing out the state's
the last year when Virginia elected a Governor was				politics and reflecting the national urban-rural split.
2005; the next gubernatorial election will occur in 2009,				Portions of Southwest Virginia influenced by unionized
with future gubernatorial elections to take place in 2013,				coal mines, the college town of Charlottesville, and
2017, 2021, etc.				southeastern counties in the Black Belt Region have
The legislative branch or state legislature is the Virginia				remained more likely to vote Democratic. However, as
General Assembly, a bicameral body whose 140				the population has increased in Northern Virginia, so
members make all laws of the Commonwealth.				has the number of Democratic voters. In 2005 and
Members of the Virginia House of Delegates serve				2006, Tim Kaine and Jim Webb won nearly all
two-year terms, while members of the Virginia Senate				jurisdictions within the region, which was not
serve four-year terms. The General Assembly also				accomplished by Alexandria resident Mark Warner in
selects the Commonwealth's Auditor of Public				2001. Warner performed comparatively strongly in rural
Accounts. The statutory law enacted by the General				areas, particularly Southwest Virginia, as his campaign
Assembly is codified in the Code of Virginia.				stressed respect for rural cultural values and
The executive branch comprises the Governor of				strategies for economic development. Some political
Virginia, the Lieutenant Governor of Virginia, and the				analysts have predicted that Virginia could become a
Attorney General of Virginia. All three officers are				more competitive state in future presidential elections
separately elected to four-year terms in years				as the number of Democrats in the north begin to
following Presidential elections (1997, 2001, 2005, etc)				counterbalance the number of Republicans elsewhere.
and take office in January of the following year.				The election of Jim Webb as one of Virginia's two U.S.
The governor serves as chief executive officer of the				Senators in the Congressional midterm elections of
Commonwealth and as commander-in-chief of its				2006 reinforced this prediction. In that midterm election,
militia. Virginia law forbids any governor from serving				the Virginia Senate race was the last decided and
consecutive terms (although a governor may serve				secured the Democratic Party a majority in the United
multiple non-consecutive terms). The lieutenant				States Senate.
governor, who is not elected on the same ticket as the				Republican John Warner still holds the other seat in the
governor, serves as president of the Senate of				U.S. Senate. Republicans also hold 8 out of 11 seats in
Virginia and is first in the line of succession to the				the U.S. House of Representatives, which some
governor. The attorney general is chief legal advisor to				attribute to gerrymandering during redistricting after the
the governor and the General Assembly, chief lawyer				2000 Census. In Northern Virginia, the most staunchly
of the Commonwealth and the head of the				Democratic areas were placed in the 8th
Department of Law. The attorney general is second in				Congressional District represented by Jim Moran
the line of succession to the governor. Whenever				leaving behind traditionally Republican leaning areas in
there is a vacancy in all three executive offices of				the 11th Congressional District represented by Thomas
governor, lieutenant governor, and attorney general,				M. Davis and the 10th Congressional District
then the Speaker of the House of the Virginia House				represented by Frank Wolf. The majority African
of Delegates becomes governor.				American 3rd Congressional District represented by
The Office of the Governor's Secretaries helps				Robert C. Scott stretches from the Richmond
manage the Governor's Cabinet, comprised of the				metropolitan area to Hampton Roads and is
following individuals, all appointed by the governor				surrounded by Republican controlled districts. Virginia's
The judicial branch consists of the Supreme Court of				Lieutenant Governor is a Republican. Republican
Virginia, the Virginia Court of Appeals, the General				Robert McDonnell became Attorney General of
District Courts and the Circuit Courts. The Virginia				Virginia by 360 votes following a legally mandated
Supreme Court, composed of the chief justice and six				recount of ballots for that race in 2005. Most elected
other judges is the highest court in the Commonwealth				official in the state's largest city, Virginia Beach, which
(although, as with all the states, the U.S. Supreme Court				has a population in excess of 450,000, are
has appellate jurisdiction over decisions by the Virginia				Republicans. Most elected officials, including a majority
Supreme Court involving substantial questions of U.S.				of the county board of supervisors, in the state's most
Constitution law or constitutional rights). The Chief				populous locality, Fairfax County, with a population in
Justice and the Virginia Supreme Court also serve as				excess of one million, are Democrats.
the administrative body for the entire Virginia court				Incumbent Virginia governors cannot run for re-election
system.				under the state constitution, and in the November 2005
The 95 counties and the 39 independent cities all have				election to succeed Democratic Governor Mark
their own governments, usually a county board of				Warner, Democrat Tim Kaine (Richmond) beat
supervisors or city council which choose a city				Republican Attorney General Jerry Kilgore (Scott
manager or county administrator to serve as a				County) and longtime Republican State Senator Russ
professional, non-political chief administrator under the				Potts (Winchester), who ran as an independent. Kaine
council-manager form of government. There are				was inaugurated as governor on January 14, 2006.
exceptions, notably Richmond, which has a

Wilson LeeHouse

Virginia politics