"With a Loudoun County sweep of the 13th, 32nd, 33rd, 67th and 86th districts, we have demonstrated the vitality of the Republican movement here in Loudoun County and its voters' repudiation of reprehensible tactics utilized by several of these candidates," said Loudoun County Republican Committee Chairman Glen Caroline in a statement.
In one of the more closely watched contests, incumbent Del. David Poisson, a Democrat who was first elected to office in 2005, was easily upended by Republican Thomas A. “Tag” Greason in the 32nd District, which encompasses much of Ashburn.
The race had been particularly heated and divisive, with both candidates resorting to negative advertisements attacking their opponent's character.
When interviewed around noon Tuesday outside Ashburn’s Stone Bridge High School, Poisson seemed unfazed by complaints about his campaign’s decision to go negative. In mailers, he accused Greason, of Ashburn, of being a failed businessman. It had also been leaked that in the 1990s, a female soldier accused Greason, who is a graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, of acting inappropriately in her presence. The criminal case, as reported by the Loudoun Independent, was eventually dropped.
"I think there are some people who think some of the stuff was out of bounds," Poisson said. "But I have run a straight up campaign."
In his acceptance speech, Greason pointed out the attacks. “We ran an honorable race,” he said. “We could not get beat by their slime.”
Poisson was far from the only local Democrat to go down in defeat on Tuesday. In eastern Loudoun’s 67th District, Democratic incumbent C. Chuck Caputo lost to Republican James LeMunyon by 14 percentage points. Caputo, a retired federal worker, has been in office since 2006.
LeMunyon, a technology entrepreneur, has lived in Northern Virginia for 26 years. From 1989 to 1993, he served as a U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of Commerce. He is also a former professor at George Mason University.
In another key race with local ties, Republican House veteran Tom Rust beat out Stevens Miller in Sterling and Herndon’s 86th District by carrying about 55 percent of the vote.
Miller has represented the Dulles District on the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors for the last two years. During his run at state office, Miller repeatedly accused Rust of failing to save legislation earlier this year that would have mandated health coverage in Virginia for children who are autistic.
In the 13th District, which includes southeastern Loudoun, veteran House member and staunch conservative Bob Marshall easily fended off his Democratic challenger John Bell, a retired Air Force major who lives in South Riding, by nine percentage points. Marshall was first elected to the House in 1991.
Finally, out in western Loudoun in the 33rd District, Republican Del. Joe May won again as he ran unopposed. May, the founder of a Sterling-based electrical engineering company called EIT, has served in the House since 1994.
Concerning voter turnout, activity was light but steady throughout the day at most Loudoun polls. Turnout measured about 38 percent countywide. During the last governor’s race in 2005, turnout was 42 percent in Loudoun. Among the various delegate races, turnout ranged in the mid-30 percent.
“We’ve seen a steady stream,” said Ray Ehrenbeck, the precinct chief at Stone Bridge High School, at around 1 p.m. Tuesday. At the halfway point of the day, only 500 of his precinct’s 3,000 registered voters had passed through the polls.
And at the start of the day, the line out front, according to Ehrenbeck, was considerably shorter than last’s year historic presidential election. “If you can call six people a line,” he said.
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Del. David Poisson, who learned Chicago style politics when he was chief of staff and counsel to the current Assistant Senate Majority Leader Richard J. Durbin of Illinois, slimed Dick Black when he first won election back in 2005. When I asked him about the push polling tactics he used in the 2005 campaign, Del. Poisson feigned ignorance and then blamed people outside of his campaign for any negative tactics. Loudouners rejected this Chicago style of politics by voting Poisson out. It won't be long before America wakes up and sees through Obama's version Chicago style politics and rejects him and his policies. Congratulations Mr. Greason on a well run campaign and the future you hold for all of Virginia.