The Sad, Sad State Of Virginia

Obama never won Arizona. The guy should do his research.

I guess the DC area should be ex-patriated to a new state of North Virginia.

I live in Northern Virginia, right in the middle of all of it. Ironically, it's really 9/11 that's to blame for Va. going blue. Back when I moved here in the mid '90s, the Northern Virginia suburbs were heavy with active and retired military and were the part of the DC area where Republican political and agency staffers tended to choose. As such, it was actually the most reliably Republican part of the entire state. Rural southside Virginia still leaned more toward the old blue-dog Democrats. Elections were close, but whichever party won resulted in centrist government. After 9/11, however, federal spending on defense and intelligence ballooned. Mile after mile of new suburbs sprouted to the far west of DC almost overnight. You'd think that these people working for defense and intelligence contractors would be quite conservative. Maybe the higher-ups are--the ones with connections to the Pentagon and the CIA. However, the vast majority of this post-9/11 hiring was for tech workers. The modern defense and intelligence communities run on high tech, not soldierly muscle. And these tech workers typically have the same politics as their counterparts in the Bay Area. In other words, the federal government created its own version of Silicon Valley just west of town, and the politics (and often the people) are interchangeable with the loony tunes California version. A huge part of this govt tech boom is staffed by people from India. My former neighborhood near Dulles Airport was at least 90% Indian, and they vote far to the left these days despite being socially pretty conservative. These people make a lot of money--they're not the low-end tech workers just off the boat from Bangalore pushing out established workers in many industries, but highly skilled and highly paid. I'd say this is a bigger factor in Virginia elections now than the Hispanic community in Northern Virginia, which is present but doesn't vote in high percentages. The Indians vote.

Sorry for the additional post, but I should add that the DOD's base realignment process removed some of the concentration of active military in N. Virginia, and the rapidly escalating cost of living chased out a lot of retired military. That's also a big factor. I'm amazed sometimes at how this area has changed in just 20 years.

I lived in northern Virginia until 2001, and have frequently visited there since then. The huge changes occurred during the Obama years (as they would), and the area has been ruined. We were back again this past summer and it is just so sad. Leftist Northern Virginia will hereafter always dominate the once great state of Virginia. Virginia is lost forever.

The remorseless growth and spread of the Northern Virginia DC suburbs is what turned Virginia blue. It is very unlikely to turn back. In fact it should turn into another Maryland in the next decade or so.

The first big wave of foreign immigration to Norther Vitginia was Vietnamese. They shore up the Republican party but their children turned out to be more liberal. The Indians have really flooded the place and they have worked the immigration laws like crazy. First you come on a H1B then bring the wife over on a tourist visa and drop an anchor baby then start bringing the rest of the family. A lot of them even with citizenship are only tenuously attached to the USA but they vote and vote Democrat. I don't see Virginia getting anything but bluer in coming years.

That breaks my heart. No wonder why they have no respect for VA history. The low income ones moved there for better welfare.

Bloomberg spent millions in Virginia against the republicans.....now he’s running as his flavor of the week...a Democrat???? He changes parties more than John Dean.

The only way to prevent this is to never ever vote for a democrat for any office at any level regardless how insignificant. Shut them out of politics. You do not want them bringing their failed ideas to your city, county or state. Americans who hold traditional values must step up and be willing to run for office. The democrats understand power. Republicans just want to live their lives and be left alone for the most part, but apathy is danger. We must become active and committed to voting for and supporting people who hold our values and that means no democrats. They will destroy whatever they touch. Look at any place they have the majority and you will find poverty and misery,

The first major move of this new liberal government will be the rejection of 2nd Amendment Rights. That amendment was established to give citizens the ability to put down oppressive government. Look to see the move to establish Socialism and then Marxism in the home of Washington, Jefferson and Madison. Oppressive government is what the liberals love and will stop at nothing to achieve it in Virginia. Virginia led the way to individual freedom many years ago and now leads the way back to oppression.

It's such a beautiful state and was a great place to live until the government ballooned out and ruined it all. Local governments took advantage of the population explosion in the DC suburbs, raised prices and taxes through the roof and the resulting crime wave turned it into a police state as every type of law enforcement agency imaginable felt the need to develop SWAT teams, K-9 units and make it miserable for drivers who were already suffering intolerable traffic conditions but they needed the ticket revenue to fund their growth. I used to enjoy stopping by the Smithsonian and other monuments on my way through there but now my route goes far to the west of DC.

All of the above posters are correct. I lived in northern VA for 23 years, 1995-2018. I lived in Loudoun County to the west of DC and in the 1996 presidential election, Clinton won not a single polling place. The county was blood red. Now it’s royal blue despite the people who have lived there for generations and still vote Republican. I connect the change more to the Clinton administration than to 9/11, because the government was already expanding during his reign of error before 9/11. But #3 above also makes a lot of sense. I loved VA but could no longer stand the proximity to DC, the huge growth, the traffic and the leftward swing. So Hubby and I moved to South Carolina almost 2 years ago. It’s wonderful here - very few immigrants, people are polite, race relations are great, and the weather is better - as long as you don’t mind the heat and humidity of summer.

I live in VA. The state Republican party is pathetic. There is no way that Northrup should ever have been elected, or allowed to stay in office. Justin Fairfax should also be gone and would've been if he had an (R) beside his name. There is rampant voter fraud in Fairfax that the democrat in charge just smirks about. As usual, the Fake Media are complicit in creating "California East".

Indeed, it is very sad what has happen to VA. Being a westerner, it's hard to understand the dynamics of VA politics and all poster comments above are much appreciated. But, here in the People's Republic of Colorado, a former red state, things have turned swiftly blue just in the last 10 years or so. A well-oiled Denver deep state and democratic machine was built and together with the help of the local msm, overwhelmed the voters. A very dis-functional state Republican Party organization was also a reason. The city and county of Denver has built many many new condos and apartments to house younger lower income professional workers and they vote cobalt blue. Having lived in the Morrison area southwest of Denver for 42 years, spouse and I had enough of the attitudes, road rage, the traffic, drug junkies on street corners, and the constant drivel of leftist garbage from the local msm. The final straw was when I felt it necessary to conceal carry to/from my bus stop to the office downtown. Fortunately, the opportunity to retire came my way in 2018 and life on the west slope in Grand Junction is real nice. Lots of real straight up folks here. And Trump/Pence banners along I-70 are common.

Takers, those who receive money "from the government", will always vote Democrat since that's the party of more government. It's human nature, and will be the end of this great American experiment. Socialism is like corrosion, dissolving the Ship of State without constant maintenance to prevent it (education, cultural assimilation, etc.). Our ship has badly deteriorated, with holes in the hull and listing badly. Once it tips far enough, it is unrecoverable and will ultimately capsize. See Venezuela for a recent example.

The other 49 states will grieve the passing of our Mother of Presidents, Virginia. Blame cannot be totally fixed I expect, but for sure the californization by the tech giants and the influx of those unwilling to find honest labor have contributed greatly to it. My dad was determined to See the USA in our Chevrolet, so we drove to or through nearly all 48. We rented a car in Hawaii, so I suppose he could have said 49 states. My mother hated Virginia with a passion because whenever it was her turn to drive, a Virginia Trooper would stop her. (Maybe she had a heavy foot on the gas, but she ''took it personal!'')

Hope that this isn't off topic. But why does Virginia ban radar detectors? I no longer use radar detectors but feel that it is my right to do so. Why is Virginia for Lovers? What do you love? The rural parts of VA are beautiful and filled with good people. Too bad it's next door to DC.

Moved from Connecticut to central Virginia six years ago. I am stunned at what's happened to this once solid Republican State. Lots of reasons, I guess, but chief among them, the same sad story that has turned other states from red to blue: liberals moving here from hard-case blue states and bringing their politics with them. You foul your nest and so you pack up and find another nest to foul. I agree with #10, Rinktum, on one way to handle this political infestation: you don't vote for anyone with a D next to his name, even it's for Animal Control Officer, or whatever.

If the country has a "West" Virginia, why not get the northern 'burbs to secede/get their own "North" VA state, and allow the rest of the sane citizens have the rest of the current state?