History Has Been Made in Virginia

My column last week was written on Tuesday evening soon after the election polls were closed. Even with electronic voting the process of counting ballots especially with early and absentee voting takes a while. I did not know the specific outcome of many of the races when I entitled my column “Bloodless Revolution.” It was obvious to me that without a shot being fired or a protest being held that the election results were going to mark important changes in the Old Dominion. By Wednesday morning when final numbers came trickling in it was clear that I was right in what I was seeing.

History was made in Virginia last week. Yes, part of that history was the flipping of the House of Delegates from Republican to Democratic control. Yes, with all the money spent on trying to flip the State Senate from Democratic to Republican control, Democrats strengthened their majority by winning enough seats that the Republican Lieutenant Governor will not be called upon to break tied votes.

The historical outcome is in those who won. For the first time since Reconstruction in 1870 Black delegates will wield considerable power. The first Black Speaker of the House will be elected when the House organizes in January. The majority leader in the House will be a Black woman delegate. An Asian woman will chair the Democratic caucus in the House of Delegates. Black women delegates will chair more committees than I can count on one hand. White male delegates will be in the minority in the House Democratic caucus. All that is historic and good for the democracy that is state government in Virginia.

As if that is not enough! On the Senate side the majority leader of the Democrats will be a Black woman. The president pro tem of the Senate will remain a Black woman.

When I first went to the House of Delegates in 1978 you could count the number of Black senators and delegates combined on one hand. The fairness of election laws and the hard work of the men and women involved have brought about these changes.

There will be those who work to unravel what has been accomplished this year. We must be vigilant, and we must continue to work hard to identify candidates who will do the hard work of electioneering. Those elected this year will be role models for those who seek office in the future. A lot of work remains to be done, but we are on our way. Celebrate now for there are still challenges ahead, but the moral arc of the universe is moving in the right direction.