Moran Heavily Endorsed in Bellwether Loudoun County

By: Josh
Published On: 11/14/2008 12:10:46 AM

The battle lines are being drawn for the 2009 gubernatorial election, and Brian Moran is staking his claim in Loudoun County.

Del. Brian Moran (D-46) was flanked by most of Loudoun's elected Democrats today in the county courthouse to stake claim to the political territory he views as critical in his campaign to be elected Virginia's next governor.

[...]

"This is the bellwether that we need to win if we are going to win in Virginia," Moran said.

This the opening salvo in what will surely be a battle of endorsements leading into the primary, and Loudoun is certainly important:

No Democrat has been elected statewide in Virginia since 2001 without winning Loudoun County. Loudoun voters supported Democrats Obama and Warner in 2008, Webb in 2006 and Kaine in 2005. But Loudoun voted for Republican Bob McDonnell over Creigh Deeds the same year. In the 2008 primary campaign, they supported Obama over Clinton by 20%.

There will be a lot of moving parts on this battle, going forward.  How will Deeds and McAuliffe respond?  

Comments



That's what she said (SammyB - 11/14/2008 10:08:43 AM)
Wasn't Hillary winning Indiana, Ohio and Pennsylvania supposed to be a symbol of her ability to win in November?

Just asking



Good for Brian (Catzmaw - 11/14/2008 10:45:25 AM)
This is great news and shows the depth of his support even at this early stage of the race.  

Go Brian!!



Is this surprising? (Red Sox - 11/14/2008 10:59:17 AM)
I always figured most party leaders representing anyone with a 703 area code would get behind Brian Moran.


Obviously... (Doug in Mount Vernon - 11/14/2008 3:49:46 PM)
you're not very familiar with Loudoun politics....yes it is surprising in that Loudoun often sided with the downstate politicians in the not too distant past.  But it's clearly shifting more Democratic and perhaps that is a sign of its imminent "realignment" to being more politically in tune with the rest of NoVA.

We are not monolithic up here, either---not by a long shot.



next step -- HR (VA Cedar Disciple - 11/14/2008 11:40:52 AM)
The next big test will be the endorsements from Hampton Roads.  Will Moran's considerable time spent down here pay off? Or will Deeds' efforts in 2005 still carry weight?


From the Alexandria Gazette... (Lowell - 11/14/2008 1:24:16 PM)
UNLIKE OTHER STATES, Virginia does not have a history of electing celebrity candidates. Former Democratic Gov. Chuck Robb probably comes the closest, although he was a graduate of the University of Virginia School of Law who attempted a run for lieutenant governor in 1977 before standing for election as governor in 1981. Some might argue that former Gov. Mark Warner, who was elected to the United State Senate last week, was an out-of-state candidate who parachuted into Virginia politics successfully. But Warner managed Douglas Wilders successful 1989 gubernatorial campaign and served as chairman of the state Democratic Party before launching his campaign for governor in 2001. McAuliffe does not have the kind of deep roots in Virginia politics that either Robb or Warner had before announcing their campaigns for governor.

"We are in uncharted territory right now where Terry McAuliffe is trying to parachute in and win, and we don't know how Virginians will react to that because it's never happened before," said Cordel Faulk, director of communications for the University of Virginia Center for Politics. "Brian Moran has the Mark Warner machine behind him, and Creigh Deeds almost beat Bob McDonnell in the race for attorney general a few years ago. So I think it's impossible to say where this race is going to fall out right now."

I agree, "it's impossible to say where this race is going to fall out right now."

http://connectionnewspapers.co...



I'm a Loudouner... (Dave N. - 11/14/2008 3:59:38 PM)
...and still not sure which one I'm going to support. I like both of them. My delegate is Dave Poisson; I tend to be in line with him and he's supporting Moran. Conspicuous by his absence yesterday was our senator, Mark Herring (another one I like). I'm guessing he's with Deeds because of collegial respect, at the least.

This one's tough.