Monthly Archive for November, 2008

Page 9 of 10

Election Results

Published by Waldo Jaquith on November 5, 2008 in Politics. 37 Comments

It was a good day for Democrats here in Virginia. Barack Obama has won the presidency, of course, with spontaneous celebrations breaking out in the streets of cities across the nation and the world, but he also won the state of Virginia, with about 51% of the vote with 95% of precincts reporting right now. Mark Warner won John Warner’s Senate seat handily, defeating Jim Gilmore. Both candidates easily won Charlottesville and Albemarle.

Less clear is the outcome of the race between Rep. Virgil Goode and and Democratic challenger Tom Perriello. Though Perriello is ahead, there are two outstanding precincts that historically have gone heavily Republican, so Goode is likely to emerge about two hundred votes ahead, by my math. But that’s before the provisional ballots are counted, and that’s before the inevitable recount. Expect this one to stretch out for a while.

It’s Election Day

Published by Waldo Jaquith on November 4, 2008 in Politics. 34 Comments

It’s election day, kids—go vote. There are no constitutional amendments, just president, Senate, and House.

Here in Stony Point we had 49 people in line at 6am—probably ten times what we’ve ever seen here before—with steady, heavy traffic ever since. Over two hundred people had voted by a little after 7:00. Nobody has needed to wait more than a few minutes, and the election workers are as efficient and friendly as ever. The rain has held off so far in the northern half of the county, which has surely helped turnout.

What are you seeing at your precinct?

10am Update: Albemarle County reports that 17,556 people voted by 9am, just over 26% of the electorate. That’s compared to to 10% in 2007 and 17% in 2006. (I’m afraid I have no figures for 2004, the last presidential election.) Jeff Uphoff provides photos of Walker in the city—between the donut wagon, the school band, and the bake sale, it seems like quite a hub of activity.

7:00pm Update: “There also have been reports of fake robocalls instructing voters in the Charlottesville area to go to the wrong precincts, allegations that the Virginia State Police are currently looking into.” So says the Washington Post. The results are going to start coming in shortly—follow the returns at the SBE’s website.

Paintings of Charlottesvillians of Yore

Published by Waldo Jaquith on November 3, 2008 in In Brief. 2 Comments

Check out the Historical Society’s online exhibit of Frances Brand’s paintings of Charlottesvillians. You’ll see some familiar faces—Francis Fife, Nancy O’Brien, Satyendra Huja, Paul Gaston, Mary Anne Elwood, Cornelia Johnson—often looking quite young.  #

Circuit City Shuttering

Published by Waldo Jaquith on November 3, 2008 in Business. 10 Comments

Circuit City is closing their Charlottesville location, Louis Llovio writes in the Richmond Times-Dispatch. They’re shutting down 154 other stores across the country, laying off a fifth of their employees, and probably facing bankruptcy. This move was inevitable to anybody watching the Richmond business’s death spiral over the past couple of years. The NYSE just warned them that they’ll be delisted if they don’t get their share prices up—they’re at $0.40 at the moment, almost a doubling in value since today’s announcement.

With so many locations closing, I guess oddly-shaped stores will litter the stripmall landscape across the nation, a la Golden Skillets. Who this is really bad news is Albemarle Square, which continues to be viable only because acac remains. It would just take the loss of one or two spots there—Plan 9 or the Northside branch of the library—before you’d see tumbleweeds in the parking lot.

Progress Endorses Goode

Published by Waldo Jaquith on November 3, 2008 in In Brief. 5 Comments

The DP endorses Rep. Virgil Goode for reelection. They’ve endorsed a straight Republican ticket this year, as they often have.  #