Welcome to the land of the perpetual election....

Gov. Timothy M. Kaine set another special election date for an open House of Delegates seat early next year - which puts two spots up for grabs on January 6. 

In the always balance-conscious House - a two seat swing to either party would be a big deal - especially with House lawmakers facing re-election next year. House Republicans would love to pick up another seat to bolster their majority, while Democrats would like nothing more than to chip away at that lead early. The races all take on higher stakes because the folks elected next year are going to set the table for redistricting.  

Del. Terry Suit, R-Virginia Beach resigned earlier this year to take a lobbying job and Del. Dwight C. Jones, D-Richmond, won the mayors race in Richmond in November. Kaine already marked Jan. 6 on the calendar for voters to pick Suit's replacement and he said Wednesday he wanted to get voters to the polls again in Richmond so that Jones' district has a representative when the General Assembly comes back to town. 

But a quick scan of the districts indicates that we don't know who is going to win each seat - but we probably know which side of aisle the new lawmakers are going to come from. Suit's Virginia Beach district fits in the GOP base - while Jones' Richmond seat is probably going to stay with the Democrats. Neither Jones nor Suit faced a campaign challenge in 2007. 

Then again we're talking about an early January election in a state that is full of people who are tired of talking about politics. That means that any hopefuls are only going to have to clear an amazingly low turnout bar - which could swing the races.

Any strong personalities waiting in the wings?

Comments

[David]

That would be Terrie Suit, not Terry Suit.