Virginia Primaries Are Called

Victories by Scott Rigell in the VA's 2nd and Robert Hurt in VA's 5th Congressional district weren't surprising. These guys have been the NRCC's main picks, though they aren't the favorites of the tea partiers. I don't see the discrepancies between tea party favorites and the NRCC as too much of a problem — let the best man win — but a lot of pundits are pretty excited about playing it up. Hurt and Ringell will do a great job pulling in votes in Virginia's violently purple districts. In Virginia's eleventh, a spirited competition between 2008 nominee Keith Fimian and Fairfax County Supervisor Pat Herrity resulted in Fimian's victory. That would hold with my anecdotal experience — the Fimian volunteer I ran into was one of the most spirited I've ever seen.

Also, with 82% of precincts in, openly gay candidate Matthew Barry trails J. Patrick Murray by 247 votes in Virginia's eighth district. Former Georgia state Rep. Tom Graves will take Rep. Nathan Deal's seat, defeating fellow Republican Lee Hawkins in the special election in Georgia’s 9th District.

Hotline's analysis of the VA races is worth a read.