Collegiate Times

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RICHMOND — It was a grand old party for Republican leaders and supporters Tuesday night as victory electrified the city and the state lit up red.

Republican party leaders began celebrating Bob McDonnell’s victory long before he was formally announced victor.

By 8 p.m., with 31 percent of precincts reporting in, McDonnell was leading opponent Democrat Creigh Deeds by 64 percent of the votes

Supporters and leaders of the Republican Party gathered in the Marriott Hotel in Richmond. Prominent guests Michael Steele, Republican National Committee chairman; Eric Cantor, House of Representatives party whip and Pat Mullins, chairman of the Republican Party of Virginia, rallied the cheering supporters as the results rolled in.

McDonnell, accompanied by lieutenant governor-elect Bill Bolling and attorney general-elect Ken Cuccinelli, showed a stunning display of strength in a broad Republican sweep of the state.

All three were polling more than 60 percent before 9 p.m. By 10 p.m., all three had officially seized their respective offices as 99 percent of precincts reported their results.

Around 8:20 p.m., both Fox News and CNN projected McDonnell to have won the state. CNN also projected Cuccinelli as having dominated polls at the same time. Shortly after that, Bolling was projected to have won his office.

A cheering, stickered, sign-brandishing crowd congregated in the excitement-charged ballroom.

“Thank you for doing the hard work of freedom,” Cantor said. “Because of you we won a great victory tonight, and because of you that Republican resurgence, that revolution, has begun again.”

A resurgence of conservative values could undermine policies coming from Washington over the next few years. All three newly elected candidates are well known for their socially conservative ideals.

As Republican supporters continued their boisterous celebration in the ballroom of the Richmond Marriott, Virginians found themselves in the hands of new leadership, continuing a trend started in 1978 where Virginia consistently elects a governor hailing from the opposing party of the president.

According to CBSNews.com, exit polls showed that among those who voted for Deeds, 38 percent said their vote was in part to support the president, while 42 percent of McDonnell voters said their vote was in part to oppose the president.

Overall, 55 percent of voters said that President Barack Obama was not a factor in their vote. In New Jersey’s gubernatorial election, 60 percent said the same.

However, party leaders in the Marriott focused on creating distance between the state of Virginia and current policies coming from Washington.

Many Republican leaders made pointed notes that Virginia will once again reach out for a strong conservative push across the state as they responded with dissatisfaction to Democratic policies in Washington.

Mullins criticized not just Deeds, but Gov. Tim Kaine along with the “liberal media,” and specifically the Washington Post.

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