Becoming an informed Voter
Course
Date
Public Relations
The politics of Virginia has always taken significant historical changes since the eighteenth century. After the U.S Civil war that took place between the years 1861 and 1865, Virginia was under political turmoil. West Virginia had forty-eight counties, and she was about to be joined by two other more counties. Virginia appealed to the United States’ Supreme Court but with no success. The United States Senator William Mahone lost control of Virginia politics in the late 18th century. The White Democrats regained the state legislature and proceeded to use the new constitution at around 1901. At around the year one thousand nine hundred and sixty, the white Democrats created a one-party state which was operational and went unchallenged up to around the middle of the 20th century. In the middle of the 20th century, there emerged the Byrd Organization headed by Harry F. Byrd, controlled the Virginia politics. Through the Byrd Organization’s leadership, African Americans received public support for the passage of Civil Rights Acts and the Voting Right acts, which provided oversight and enforcement to ensure all citizens’ ability to vote (Altman, M., & McDonald,2012). Newport News has a long history and existed under different names, including Warwick River Shire, Warwick City, and Elizabeth Cittie. Warwick and Newport’s news merged to form a city over fifty years ago. All the Newport representatives since the 18th century ensured the growth of healthy politics and enforcement of citizen’s civil rights. Newport News politics have profoundly contributed to the growth of Virginia state politics among all the other Virginia’s districts.
Since the admission of Virginia state to statehood in 1788, Virginia participated in every United States’ presidential election except in 1864 during the American Civil war and in 1868 when the state was undergoing reconstruction. Virginia state has always voted for the winning side except for 2016, where they voted for Hillary Clinton. From two thousand to two thousand and twelve, 80 percent of 100 always won. 66.67 percent out of 100, Virginia state always voted for the winning president since the year one thousand and nine hundred. In 1792, Virginia controlled a quarter of the total presidential votes, and this was the largest concentration of the United States’ history (Altman, M., & McDonald,2012). Virginia State has participated in fifty-six presidential elections. They voted democratic for twenty-nine times and voted Republican sixteen times. Out of this fifty-six times, they have participated in presidential elections, Virginia state voted 39 times for the winning candidates and seventeen times for the losing candidate. In the 2016 election, Virginia state expressed their preferences for the Republican, Democratic and Green parties. The Democratic party candidate, Hillary Clinton, got 49.73% of the Virginia votes while her opponent Donald Trump of the Republican got 44.41% of the total votes. Hillary Clinton had an added advantage because she selected Virginia Senator Tim Kaine as her running mate.
Virginia always supported the Democratic party since 1788, except for a few times when they were in support of the Republican. It was the first time since the year one thousand and twenty-four, the republican won the general election without Virginia. Virginia state’s voters’ turnouts are huge to ensure their Democratic support. In the 2016 general election, Hillary Clinton won the Democratic primary with over sixty percent of the vote cast while Donald Trump won the Republican primary with over thirty percent. Virginia preferences have always been Democratic movement since 2004, and this is due to migration of people from other counties like Washington DC, which are in support of Democratic movement. Among the 11 states that belonged to the Confederate States of America, Virginia was the only state that was in support of the Democratic movement. On the contrary, in the year one thousand, nine hundred and seventy-six, Virginia was the only state that belonged to the CSA that voted for the Republican movement (Altman, M., & McDonald,2012). In that year, Virginia went for the losing side and also in 1996 when she also supported the Republican. The most amazing thing is that Virginia supported Hillary Clinton in 2016, while in the years her husband Bill Clinton ran for the presidency, he never carried Virginia. At the district level, Newport News seemed to be in support of the Democratic. A Newport News vote for the presidency by students conducted in 2016, most of the students seemed to prefer the Democratic candidate, Hillary Clinton.
In Virginia state, political parties seem to be relatively even since Virginia supports been changing over the years. Political party strength strengths in Virginia state has always been a flux. In 2017 elections, Democrats’ movement regained control of the states senate and beat the Republican to eight seats. In 2009 elections, the Republican candidate, Bob McDonnell was elected Governor with a seventeen points margin. The Republicans also gained six seats in the Senate. In 2011, the Republicans won two-third seats in the House of Delegates and also the majority of the Senate. The Republican movement’s reign in Virginia only lasted for two years when a Democratic leader, Terry McAuliffe was elected Governor by more than two percentage points in 2013. Also, Ralph Northam, a Democrat, was elected Lieutenant Governor by at least a double-digit.
The political climate in Newport News is somewhat liberal. From analytical results, it is evident that voters in Newport news are willing to respect the opinions of each other and are open to new ideas (Altman, M., & McDonald,2012). According to the conservative index, which based on voting in general elections, consumer personality profiles (CPP), and federal campaign contributions by locals (FCC), Newport News voted democratic in the last five presidential elections. Precisely, the county remains strongly Democratic, with the figures standing at 60.3% to 33.7% that voted Republican. Still, 6.0% voted Independent in the most recent presidential election. In the recent elections, say five of them, the contest has been stiff between republican and democratic parties. Mostly democratic has won with republican candidates toping a few times. Contributions for the campaigns also portrays where the support lies. In the last four years, a total of $641,099 contributed to Democratic and liberal campaigns. On the other hand, $215 094 issued to Republican and conservative campaigns. In the recent past, support for Republicans is on a downward trend, unlike that of Democratic. It strongly suggests that the District’s support is inclined to one party, and it’s not about to change any time soon.
The current Newport News representative, Robert Cortez Scott, is not new in the state. Born April 30, 1947, he is a United States politician serving as the U.S representative since the year one thousand, nine hundred and ninety-three. The democratic partisan is the dean Virginia congressional delegation. He is a Harvard University graduate and has served in the U.S army in the 1970s. He was first elected to the Virginia House of Delegates in 1977 and later in 1982 elected to Senate Virginia. Since 1992 to date, he has enjoyed a monopoly in the elections, winning by over 60% if the voter castings (Altman, M., & McDonald,2012).
Virginia’s current senators are Democrats Mark Warner and Tim Kaine. Timothy Michael Kaine is an American lawyer and politician serving as a senator since 2013. Born February 26, 1958, he has served as the 38th lieutenant Governor of Virginia and the 70th governor of Virginia. Kaine was a democratic nominee for vice president of the U.S in 2016 as the running mate of Hilary Clinton. He studied at Harvard University and the University of Missouri where he received his B.A in Economics in 1979. Kaine has enjoyed voting monopoly throughout the years, winning by a small margin in some cases.
In 2016, Americans for Democratic Action rating group gave their position on the 2016 elections. They rated Bobby Scott 100%, Mark warner 80%, and Tim Kaine 95%. The American Civil Liberties Union 2019 positions stand at 76% Bobby Scott, Mark warner 76%, and 100% for Tim Kaine. According to the Christian Coalition of America’s latest positions, all three rated 0%. Also, Bobby, Kaine, and Warner received a zero rating on the Family Research Council’s 2019 positions.
Vote Smart is a non-profit research organization that collects and distributes information on the candidates for public office in the United States. It focuses on background information, information issue positions, voting records, interest group, rating campaign finances and speeches, and public statements.
I would classify Bobby Scott as liberal because, during his tenure, he did a few things that cannot go unnoticed. He fully sponsored laws that were important to Virginians in education, employment, social services, health care, economic development, consumer protection, and crime prevention. His legislative success in the state legislature included laws increased Virginia minimum wage, created Governor’s employment, and improved health care benefits for women, infants, and children. He serves as chairman of the committee on education and labor and, in this position, has advanced a plan that improves students’ situation on the burden of crippling debts, equity in education and protects and expands access to affordable health care ensuring worker’s safety at workplaces.
I could classify Tim Kaine as liberal considering his career life. While serving as Governor, he improved the education and health care systems, and by the end of his term, Virginia was rated as the best state for business and to raise a child in. He also responded to the tragic shooting at Virginia tech by pushing for making communities safer. Tim has spent time in the Senate, focusing on improving Virginian lives. He has taken the task of boosting job opportunities for everyone a top priority for him. Tim was in the military and the father of a marine. As such, he focuses on crafting the best defense strategy and reducing unnecessary war risks. He believes that healthcare is not something that reserves for those who can afford and has consistently pushed for reforms to expand access to quality care. Taking all this into account, Tim qualifies as a liberal person; he goes out of his comfort zone for the benefit of others.
References
Altman, M., & McDonald, M. P. (2012). A half-century of Virginia redistricting battles: Shifting from rural malapportionment to voting rights to public participation. U. Rich. L. Rev., 47, 771.