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.
“The Republican Party of Virginia is back, it’s alive, it’s well and it’s victorious,” Mullins said. “Tonight the Commonwealth is once again red.”
Cantor also spoke harshly against current leadership in Washington.
“Tonight’s great victory is a great sign that we the people are fed up with the Obama-Pelosi-McCain agenda,” he said. “Enough with the spending, enough with the waste, and enough with the incredible reach of government into every aspect of our lives.”
McDonnell was courteous yet firm when speaking about the opposing party. He congratulated Deeds for running and said that he hopes to continue to work with Deeds as he serves in the state senate.
“We both agree this is a great and wonderful state in which we’re privileged to live,” McDonnell said. “Creigh Deeds is a good public servant and what we’re going to need is good public servants.”
However, McDonnell also said he intends to stick to his ideals and values to improve the state, which doesn’t mean he’ll agree with every policy passed by a Democratic Congress and president.
In his acceptance speech, Cuccinelli said that during his tenure as attorney general, he would work to “protect life and families and fight for truly limited government.”
Shortly before 9 p.m., Deeds officially conceded the race.
McDonnell supporters applauded after the televised airing of Deeds’ speech.
The atmosphere in the ballroom of the Richmond Marriott could not have been more celebratory.
In his acceptance speech, governor-elect McDonnell thanked his friends, family and God for his victory. He told the audience he was “ready to go to work to serve you and help Virginia.”
“My promise to you now is the same as it was when I was running for this office,” McDonnell said, “to strengthen the free enterprise system and create more jobs and opportunity so every Virginian can use their God-given talents to pursue the American dream and liberty.”
With exit polls showing that 85 percent of Virginia voters said they are worried about the state of the economy, McDonnell conceded that the next four years would not be easy.
McDonnell promised that he, along with Bolling and Cuccinelli, would “work together to leave Virginia better than we found it.”