Virginia Governor Election Results

        My prediction of Terry McAuliffe winning the Virginia Governor's race over Ken Cuccinelli was correct. However, McAuliffe only won by only two percentage points which is less than I and many others thought it would be. There were many factors that led to McAuliffe winning the election. One is that there is a larger population of African Americans in Virginia than there was during the last election. Since African Americans overwhelmingly support democrats, this helped McAuliffe gain voters. He also had the majority of support from women voters due to his pro-choice views regarding abortion. Cuccinelli may have been at a disadvantage against his democratic opponent because of the recent negative views towards Tea Party members due to the government shut down. The reason that the race was closer than what may have been predicted is because of the money spent on the campaign. Cuccinelli spent $34.4 million compared to McAuliffe's $19.7 million during the campaign. This could have given Cuccinelli some advantages and led to a closer election.

Election Day

        Republican Ken Cuccinelli and democrat Terry McAuliffe are the two candidates in the Virginia governor election this year. Virginia is a battleground state which means that the election could go either democratic or republican because there are almost equal levels of support for each party. My prediction is that the democratic candidate will win this election which is supported by most of the polls thus far. Cuccinelli is backed heavily by Tea Party members, which could work against him. There is nationwide distrust and anger towards the Tea Party because of the recent government shutdown which is leading to less support for Cuccinelli. Obama and other democrats have been attempting to exploit these feelings to back McAuliffe. However, the recent shortcomings of the Obamacare website have not made supporters of the Affordable Health Care Act look good, and McAuliffe is one of these supporters. Despite this, I feel that Virginia is leaning more towards the democratic side. This could be because of McAuliffe's support from women. In regards to abortion, McAuliffe supports the pro choice view which women tend to strongly agree with. Because abortion laws a created state by state, women in Virginia have greater support for McAuliffe.