RICHMOND, Va. -- State Democrats downplayed their continued minority party status last night and extolled an apparent three-seat gain in the Virginia House of Delegates, the first net gain in the House since 1975.
"Democrats have not gained seats in the General Assembly in your lifetime -- it's a great night for Democrats," Virginia Democratic Party Chair Lawrence H. Framme, III said. "It really says the Democrats have turned the corner in the General Assembly."
Democratic leaders also retained a positive outlook on a one-seat loss in the first Virginia Senate election following 2001 redistricting by a Republican-controlled General Assembly.
"To hold our own in the Senate and pick up seats in the House is a tremendous victory," said Laura Bland, the director of communications for the Democratic Party of Virginia. "Republicans drew the map essentially to ensure the destruction of the Democratic Party as we know it in Virginia."
In contrast to this year's Senate results, Democrats lost more than a dozen seats to redistricting during the 2001 House of Delegates elections, according to Framme.
Democratic leaders interpreted last night's results as a call for moderate leadership in the General Assembly, as tax restructuring and funding for public education rise to the top of Gov. Mark R. Warner's legislative agenda this session.
"Voters rejected sound bite slogans and said, 'No, we want to stick with mainstream, moderate leaders,'" Warner said at a press conference outside the governor's mansion.
Although Democrats did not come close to gaining a majority in either chamber, they retained enough seats to stave off a two-thirds Republican majority that could have overridden any gubernatorial veto.
Officials pointed out that the Democratic Party also held on to seats in local elections around Virginia, particularly in several highly-contested Northern Virginia races.
"Voters up there are recognizing that we have got to begin to rebuild infrastructure in the state, including higher education -- this is good news for colleges and universities," Framme said.
Democrats focused their campaign efforts on protecting incumbents and challenging Republicans in certain districts, Warner said.
"I tried to invest resources and time where I thought we could make a difference," he said.
Democrats said they hope to build on their gain in the next election.
"We came pretty close in districts that were redistricted to be solid Republican," Framme said. "We think in the next few cycles, we're going to be able to successfully challenge -- there's great hope now."
House Minority Leader Franklin Hall, D-Richmond, agreed.
"Those three seats are three steps closer to doing the right thing for Virginia, and we're going to do that," Hall said.
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