The upcoming General Assembly elections could decide the fate of the Republican Party in Virginia politics for the coming decade, said Ed Matricardi, executive director of Virginia's Republican Party, last night in a speech to the College Republicans.
Matricardi told the audience of about 20 students that the General Assembly -- which historically has been controlled by the Democrats -- elections this fall are crucial for the Virginia Republican Party's future.
"If we control the General Assembly after this year's election, we will probably control Virginia for the next generation," he said.
Whichever party gains control of the Assembly this fall will control redistricting for U.S. Congressional districts and local office positions, he added.
But if the Democrats win majority control, they may prevent Republican Party penetration at the local level for at least 10 years, Matricardi said.
Neither party now controls the Assembly. The House is split with 50 Democrats, 49 Republicans and a conservative-voting independent. The Senate has 21 Republicans and 19 Democrats.
Matricardi said this year's election would tip control in the Assembly to one of the parties.
"We have power-sharing in both houses. This year it's going to change -- one party is going to get control of the General Assembly," he said.
Eight or nine seats in the House and 15 in the Senate are up for grabs, he added, pointing out that Republicans hold the advantage in most of these competitive races.
"I think we're very well positioned," Matricardi said.
Turning to the race for the Charlottesville Senate seat between incumbent Sen. Emily Couric, D-Charlottesville, and Jane Maddux (R), he said Couric holds the advantage, but could lose if Maddux wins Albemarle County. If Couric wins the election, she likely would run for higher office, he added.
"Emily Couric is obviously a formidable incumbent. I imagine she will be the Democratic nominee for Lieutenant Governor in 2001 unless we end her career here," Matricardi said.
Matricardi also touched on the 2000 U.S. Senate election race between former Virginia Gov. George Allen (R) and incumbent Sen. Charles Robb (D). He said Allen is the best candidate Republicans could have against Robb, and should win if he avoids serious campaign mistakes. Although incumbents usually enjoy an advantage in fundraising, as of July Allen had raised over twice as much money as Robb.
Audience members said they enjoyed the speech.
"He was a good speaker. He really inspired a lot of confidence in me in this race," first-year College student Neil Haner said.
Forth-year College student Gene Reagan also said the speech was informative.
"I learned a lot of things I hadn't known before," Reagan said.
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