Posted on November 5, 2008 in Articles

Why voting matters: Though I currently live in NYC, my family lives in Charlottesville, Virginia, where Republican incumbent Virgil Goode has been the congressional Representative for what feels like forever. Virgil Goode has quite the history on him, mostly race-baiting and saying pretty awful things about gays and Muslims, so some of us were really hoping he would be getting the boot in 2008 with the popularity of Barack Obama and Mark Warner (former Governor and soon to be Senator of Virginia).

My Dad usually votes Republican/Third Party, my mom votes straight Democrat, and I begrudgingly vote Independent/Democrat in most elections. Well, things changed this year… I guess we all got fed up with Bush and the past 8 years, enough so to drive a centrist-right person like my Dad into a straight Democratic ticket.

Good timing too, because this was the year to clean house. And while no polls showed Goode’s challenger, Democrat Tom S. P. Perriello, coming within 5%, we all were hoping for some sort of election miracle. And it looks like we may have gotten it:

As of 3:31 the day after the election with 100% precincts reporting, Perriello is ahead by 31 votes. Yes, with over 315,000 votes cast, Tom Perriello is ahead by 31 votes.

I’m really glad I voted. And I’m even gladder that my whole family voted. Mom, Dad, and I constitute 10% of Perriello’s lead. And I hope it stays that way.

See Also: Watching the Goode/Perriello tally, Virgil Goode Down by 31 Votes, VA-05: Nailbiter, Re-Count for Goode?, Recounts to Watch, and The Drawn-Out House Vote-Counting Battle to Come.

[tags]Tom S. P. Perriello, Virgil Goode, 5th house district in virgina, va, va house race, house of representatives, democrat Tom S. P. Perriello, democrat challenger, 30 votes, republican, incumbent[/tags]