2010 Virginia's 8th congressional district election explained

Election Name:Virginia's 8th congressional district election, 2010
Country:Virginia
Type:Presidential
Ongoing:no
Previous Election:United States House of Representatives elections in Virginia, 2008#District 8
Previous Year:2008
Next Election:United States House of Representatives elections in Virginia, 2012#District 8
Next Year:2012
Election Date:November 2, 2010
Candidate1:Jim Moran
Party1:Democratic Party (United States)
Popular Vote1:116,293
Percentage1:61.01%
Candidate2:Jay Patrick Murray
Party2:Republican Party (United States)
Popular Vote2:71,108
Percentage2:37.31%
Map Size:330px
Representative
Before Election:Jim Moran
Before Party:Democratic Party (United States)
After Election:Jim Moran
After Party:Democratic Party (United States)

Virginia's 8th congressional district election, 2010 was an election held to determine who would represent Virginia's 8th congressional district in the United States House of Representatives during the 112th Congress. The seat contested is located in Northern Virginia, and includes part of Fairfax County, the city of Alexandria, and all of Arlington County. Since 1990, the 8th district had been represented by 10-term Democratic incumbent Jim Moran.[1]

Background

The district is represented currently by Jim Moran, a former mayor of Alexandria and Democrat, who won the 8th congressional district in 1990 and has been reelected in every election since. The district usually favors Democratic candidates. In the 2000 presidential election, the district was won by Democrat Al Gore. In the 2004 presidential election, it was won by Democrat John Kerry. In the 2008 presidential election, it was won by Democrat Barack Obama. Moran has defeated every Republican challenger in large victories.

One Democrat, Ronald Mitchell, filed to challenge Moran for the Democratic nomination and raised over $9,000,[2] but failed to collect the minimum number of signatures required to be placed on the ballot[3] and Moran was nominated.[4] The Republican Party nomination was contested by attorney and former Federal Communications Commission general counsel Matthew Berry and retired U.S. Army Colonel Patrick Murray.[5] Several other candidates had announced their intent to run, including 2008 nominee Mark Ellmore, but they all dropped out at different times, leaving the race to Berry and Murray. Murray narrowly won the June 8th Republican primary by a margin of 52%-48%.[6] [7]

Independent Green candidate and retired U.S. Navy Captain Ron Fisher was also on the ballot in 2010.[8] He took two percent of the popular vote in 2008, and received 2,700 (1.41%) in 2010.[9]

Candidates

Democratic nomination

Republican nomination

Results

Polling

SourceDates AdministeredJim Moran (D)Patrick Murray (R)Undecided/Other
Pollster unavailable, results via the Washington PostOctober 2010 align=center58%31%11%
McLaughlin & AssociatesSeptember 2010 align=center45%32%23%

General election

Campaign

The 8th district election received national attention in October 2010 because of remarks Moran made at a meeting of the Arlington County Democratic Committee on October 6, 2010:

What [Republicans] do is find candidates, usually stealth candidates, that haven't been in office, haven't served or performed in any kind of public service. My opponent is typical, frankly.

Moran defended his performance as a member of congress, saying in an interview with The Washington Post that "The message is that our unemployment rate is half what it is in the rest of the country. We've been judged the best place to ride out the recession... We have the strongest economy in the country, so we don't want to do a whole lot different than what we've been doing." He also attacked his opponent's views on social issues; saying that Murray's opposition to abortion and same-sex marriage was "out of the mainstream in Northern Virginia".[12]

Fundraising

Candidate (Party)ReceiptsDisbursementsCash On HandDebt
Jim Moran (D)$1,312,117$1,376,173$424,891$0
Patrick Murray (R)$446,468$442,922$3,546$45,000
Source: Federal Election Commission[13]

Results

Moran easily won reelection on November 2, 2010; despite Republicans taking over the House of Representatives and several other Virginia Democratic incumbents losing their races. In his victory speech Moran said that "The politics of divisiveness and fear have gained ground on hope. We can make no mistake: the next two years are going to be very difficult". Moran also took a few final jabs at his defeated opponent, saying that the combined "lack of civic engagement" and "extremist Tea Party views" doomed Murray's candidacy.

Patrick Murray left open the possibility of another run in his concession speech: "We fought the best fight that's ever been fought in a very tough district, I think what we have here is a huge movement. So what we did is built a foundation, and we'll be back."

External links

Official campaign sites

Notes and References

  1. News: Moran Claims Victory, Tells Backers 'A Difficult 2 Years Lie Ahead' . Nicholas . Benton . . November 2, 2010 .
  2. http://fec.gov/DisclosureSearch/mapHSCandDetail.do?election_yr=2010&detailType=cand&cand_id=H0VA08107&category=disH&stateName=VA&congressId=08 FEC Records -- Ronald Mitchell
  3. News: In the 8th, GOP Primary Is a Go, Democratic One Is a No. https://archive.today/20130222075101/http://www.sungazette.net/articles/2010/04/16/arlington/news/nw175c.txt. dead. February 22, 2013. McCaffrey. Scott. April 16, 2010. The Arlington Sun Gazette. April 16, 2010.
  4. Web site: Democrats Choose Three For Fairfax Congressional Races. Fairfax County Democratic Committee. June 6, 2010.
  5. News: Trompeter. Brian. At Convention, 8th District Republican Contenders Take Aim at Moran. https://archive.today/20130112085942/http://www.sungazette.net/articles/2010/05/25/arlington/news/nw131a.txt. dead. January 12, 2013. June 5, 2010. The Arlington Sun Gazette. May 25, 2010.
  6. Web site: Virginia State Board of Elections Results -- June 8, 2010 Primaries . July 21, 2010 . https://web.archive.org/web/20100722224103/https://www.voterinfo.sbe.virginia.gov/election/DATA/2010/3429C052-221D-420E-B117-AB75E2FD4894/Unofficial/6_s.shtml . July 22, 2010 . dead . mdy-all .
  7. News: Fimian, Murray Take Va. GOP Nominations . Lewis, Bob . Stabley, Matthew . . June 8, 2010 .
  8. News: Schumitz. Kali. Republicans vie for chance to unseat Moran in election. June 6, 2010. The Fairfax Times. May 19, 2010. https://web.archive.org/web/20100524122612/http://www.fairfaxtimes.com/cms/story.php?id=1529. May 24, 2010. dead.
  9. Web site: November 2, 2010 General and Special Elections Unofficial Results. 2010-11-03. https://web.archive.org/web/20101103170939/https://www.voterinfo.sbe.virginia.gov/election/DATA/2010/EB24720D-F5C6-4880-8DC5-12AE4D0C3772/Unofficial/6_s.shtml. November 3, 2010. dead. mdy-all.
  10. News: Ellmore Out of Hunt in 8th District GOP Race. https://archive.today/20130222115553/http://www.sungazette.net/articles/2010/03/07/arlington/news/nw221b.txt. dead. February 22, 2013. March 7, 2010. The Arlington Sun Gazette. March 25, 2010.
  11. News: McCaffrey. Scott. 5 Republicans Now in Running to Challenge Rep. Moran. https://archive.today/20130222085324/http://www.sungazette.net/articles/2010/01/26/arlington/news/nw276.txt. dead. February 22, 2013. June 6, 2010. The Arlington Sun Gazette. January 26, 2010.
  12. News: Pershing. Ben. Moran won't stray from winning ways. November 8, 2010. The Washington Post. October 18, 2010.
  13. Web site: 2010 House and Senate Campaign Finance for Virginia . fec.gov . February 15, 2011 .