House Editor David Wasserman writes: Virginia is the center of the political universe in 2012; it could well determine the occupant of the White House and the majority party in the Senate. But thanks to redistricting, it's now one of the least competitive states at the House level. Republicans cunningly stalled the remapping process until they took control of the Virginia Senate by a single vote in November 2011. They then then passed a map that packed even more African-Americans into Democratic Rep. Bobby Scott's Tidewater 3rd CD and turned Democratic Rep. Gerry Connolly's Northern Virginia 11th CD into a minority-majority seat. Now, of the eight Republicans occupying Virginia's 11 districts, the only race to watch is in the 2nd CD of freshman Rep. Scott Rigell, who has an edge against Democratic venture capitalist Paul Hirschbiel.
The new map can be found here.
New District Baselines
VA-01: Rob Wittman (R) – East: Fredericksburg, Williamsburg, Northern Neck
Solid Republican. An even-keeled former shellfish sanitation worker, Wittman has proven highly popular in this Chesapeake Bay area district and may have future
Subscribe Today
Our subscribers have first access to individual race pages for each House, Senate and Governors race, which will include race ratings (each race is rated on a seven-point scale) and a narrative analysis pertaining to that race.