Posted 4:15 p.m. Dec. 3

By Michelle Gesser
U-WIRE Washington Bureau

Though Election Day in Virginia came around this year like it does every other year, observers said after September’s tragedy the election was anything but typical.

Democrat Gov.-elect Mark Warner beat Republican challenger Mark L. Earley, despite Virginia’s strong conservative voter base.

Scott Lasley, a Virginia resident and a political science professor at George Washington University, said November’s election in Virginia was affected profoundly by the tragic events two months before.

“There was a lot of heat but then after Sept. 11, it (the election) was pretty much taken off the burner,” he told U-WIRE. “It became a secondary issue.”

Lasley said campaigns lost a week of momentum after Sept. 11 and it likely played a major role in deciding who would win.

“You had that whole week where campaigning was off. It was covered in newspapers and things like that but it wasn’t the primary focus,” Lasley said.

Voter turnout for the 2001 election was not affected drastically by what happened, according to Lasley. An estimated 46 percent of registered voters showed up to the polls as compared to the 1997 election in which an estimated 52 percent voted, according to Virginia’s Board of Elections.

The slight reduction could be attributed to a sense of disillusionment on the part of Virginia residents.

“People voted but it wasn’t something they felt passionately about this year,” Lasley said.

“That could be the reason why a Democrat took control of a traditionally Republican state,” he added.

As for the election results, Gov.-elect Warner’s win has been attributed to his strategic campaigning and exposure to the public.

Some believe Mark Earley’s loss this election was due to his late start at building campaign momentum.

“Warner had the advantages, but most people would argue that Mark Earley’s campaign never quite got on track, that it was essentially dead from the beginning,” Lasley said. “Then Sept. 11 made it impossible to get on track or made it at least very difficult to get on track.”

Lasley said the 2001 Democratic win was an isolated incident due mostly to Warner’s centered stance on the issues.

“Warner ran as a fiscal conservative and he was moderate enough on social issues that he got support from generally Republican supporters,” Lasley said. “He was able to beat Republicans at their own game to some extent. It doesn’t signal that Republicans have lost their stranglehold.”

Some, like Lasley, believe the election has no bearing on future voter turnout numbers and election outcomes so “the election in 2001 was most likely an isolated phenomenon.”