Collegiate Times

RICHMOND — As the lyrics of the Black Eyed Peas’ “I Got a Feeling” blasted over the Marriott’s ballroom, the atmosphere mirrored just that — Tuesday night was indeed a good night for the Republican party. Clearly energized by the gubernatorial victory of Bob McDonnell, Republicans Bill Bolling and Ken Cuccinelli secured Virginia’s positions of lieutenant governor and attorney general, respectively.“We’re having a good night,” Bolling said. “The votes have been counted. Virginia’s red, the Dems are blue.” Both candidates seized more than 60 percent of the statewide vote.

Results from the Virginia State Board of Elections show that with 99 percent of precincts reporting, Bolling defeated democratic challenger Jody M. Wagner by a margin of 56-43, while Cuccinelli defeated democrat Steve Shannon 57-42. Carrying a broom on stage to represent the statewide sweep for Republican candidates, Cuccinelli thanked his supporters.“Folks don’t come out to fight for Ken Cucinelli, they come to fight for first principles,” Cucinelli said. “We take care of those who take care of us, our law enforcement, and I intend to do that when I’m attorney general.”

The wins of Bolling and Cuccinelli complete a sweep for Republicans in Virginia.“If there’s one thing this campaign has done, it’s shown our Republican party what to do to win,” Bolling said. Bolling had high hopes for the future of Virginia’s Republican party. “We are celebrating a great victory, but it won’t be the last. It is the first and the best is yet to come,” Bolling said. Echoing words from Ronald Reagan, Cuccinelli described his mission as reigning in the control that has been put on the people of Virginia by the government.

“Government’s first duty is to protect the people, not run their lives,” Cuccinelli said.

He promised to stand guard over individual rights and against constitutional overreach.Cuccinelli also discussed his plans for job creation in Virginia. “Government should be creating opportunity, so the private sector can get back to what it creates and that’s jobs,” Cuccinelli said. He also said that he plans to focus in on the threats of right-to-work laws.“Of special concern to me as we look across the Potomac is this threat to our right-to-work laws, the most obvious place of Constitution overreach,” Cuccinelli said. “It’s an area that many Virginians believe is for us to determine for ourselves.”Bolling used his victory speech to discuss the impact of a Republican win in Virginia.

“We’re going to change the direction of the Commonwealth of Virginia. This is change you can really believe in,” Bolling said.

Bolling said that he would strive to tackle the state’s larger concerns. “People of Virginia know as we know that the challenges facing our state today are too big for small campaigns,” Bolling said. “They want more than that, they expect more than that, and we will give them more than that in the next few years.” Bolling outlined his campaign goals of job creation, education and transportation. “We’ve got to create jobs and we will turn our deficits into surpluses by the time we’re done, improve education opportunities we’re providing to our children, transportation systems without raising taxes,” Bolling said. “We will do everything we can to improve access and affordability in Virginia without turning it over to the federal government.” Bolling was confident with the positive direction of the overall campaign.“I am proud of the campaign we ran, this was a campaign of issues and ideas,” Bolling said. “We didn’t ask for votes and support by tearing people down but by lifting up new ideas.”