U.S. NEWS

(Dukes' Dispatch) - For the first time in 25 years the Democrats have taken control of the entire Virginia state government. This means that they control the Governorship, the House of Delegates, and the State Senate.

This is another chapter in the long term conversion of Virginia from a Republican state to a Democratic one. It started in 2008 when then Senator Barack Obama won the state for the Democrats for the first time since 1964. It continued when Obama won the state again in 2012, and when Terry McAuliffe won the governorship in 2013. The final steps of the process was when Ralph Northam won the governorship and now when the Democrats have taken the legislature.

One of the key races in the House of Delegates was the 94th district, which saw a tie in the 2017 election that was resolved by having a name pulled out of an old film canister. In that election, Republican David Yancey held on to his seat, but in this election, between the same two people, Yancey and Democratic challenger Shelly Simonds, the tides turned, and Simonds won by over 3,000 votes.

In our area there were two state government races. One for the third senate district, and one for the 98th House of Delegates district.

In the Senate race it was Incumbent Senator Tommy Norment (R) versus challenger Herb Jones (D). Norment ended up winning that race by 24 points, which was expected. The race wasn't one that Democrats were hoping to win, and they did not put many resources into it to try. Norment has been the State Senator for this district since 1992, and as of now it doesn't look as if that will change.

In the House of Delegates race it was Incumbent Delegate Keith Hodges (R) versus Challenger Dr. Ella Belt Webster (D). Hodges won that race by 38 percent, which is worse than the democrat Sheila Crowley did in 2017. Just like in the Senate race, the Virginia Democratic Party did not put many resources behind Webster, who was always considered a long shot against Hodges in a district that hasn't been represented by a Democrat since the early 1980s. Hodges has served as our delegate since 2012.

On a more local level, the highest office being sought in Gloucester was of Sheriff, with Current Sheriff Darrell Warren being challenged by James DeBaun. This race wasn't even close, with Warren receiving 86 percent of the vote.

The only other county wide office that was truly contested was for the Treasurer. Seeing incumbent Tarah Thomas being challenged by Penny Kemp Smith. In the end, Thomas pulled ahead with 62 percent of the vote, opposed to Smith's 37 percent.

An interesting happening in Gloucester on election night was that it took until around two in the morning to report our results. This is because of a school board race that had no candidates. Our Registrar's Office refused to report any results to the state board of elections until all of the Write-in votes had been counted.