State Politics
Virginia's U.S. Senate Race

Virginia has been nicknamed "the mother of presidents" because eight U.S. presidents were born there - more than any other state. "The Old Dominion," as it is also called, Virginia is deeply rooted in its military and political history.

Virginia has a long conservative history, dating back to colonial days when its economy was based primarily on slave labor. Democrats rose to power under Governor and, later, Senator Harry Byrd, who stayed in office for 40 years. Byrd Democrats shut down Virginia public schools in the 1950s rather than obey federal court desegregation orders. But by the middle of the 1960's, Democrats, beaten in the primaries, began running as independents or became Republicans. Registered voters in Virginia do not declare party affiliation, but the state usually ranks as a safe bet for Republicans.

Today, voters in the rural coal-mining region in the southwest corner of the state tend to vote Democratic, but are conservative on social issues. The Navy and shipbuilding hubs in Norfolk and Newport News tend to vote Republican. Booming Northern Virginia, the most populous region of the state, tends to vote Republican as well but many residents hold moderate views on social issues such as abortion and favor increased spending on education.

Home to more than 4,000 technology companies employing about a half million people (ten times the number from a decade ago), these ever-expanding suburbs of Washington D.C. can make or break a close election such as the current Robb-Allen Senate race. Virginia has the second-largest computer software industry in the U.S. As so-called "silicon alley" and the tech industry in Northern Virginia continue to expand at record rates, the boundaries of Northern Virginia have moved further and further south. The state economy, once dependent on tobacco, shipbuilding and defense, is being radically reshaped by "new economy" technology firms.

Once neatly divided between black and white, Virginia today draws high-tech workers from Asia, the Far East and Europe. Thousands of immigrants from Central and South America have found jobs in construction, food service, and maintenance.

About 76 percent of voting age residents are white, according to1996 figures from the U.S Census. About 20 percent are black, 3.7 percent are Hispanic, and 3.6 percent are Asian.

Virginia has not voted for a Democratic presidential candidate since 1966. President Clinton lost Virginia to Senator Bob Dole in 1996 by just two percentage points. Virginia was the first state to elect a black Governor - Democrat Doug Wilder, in 1989. Yet, Virginia is dominated by the GOP; which now controls both houses of the state legislature as well as the governor's mansion.