Hurt Feels No Election Pain
Published 4:48 pm Thursday, November 8, 2012
FARMVILLE – Incumbent Fifth District Congressman Robert Hurt was swept back into office, winning 55.38 percent of the district-wide vote, compared with 42.94 percent for his Democratic challenger John Douglass , and 1.57 percent for Independent Green Party candidate, Kenneth J. Hildebrandt.
In the U.S. Senate race battle between two former governors, Tim Kaine, the Democrat, defeated Republican George Allen.
Locally, Douglass won in Prince Edward County, while the GOP's Hurt won in Buckingham and Cumberland.
The Prince Edward totals saw Douglass win 50.61 percent of the vote, to 48.03 for Hurt and 1.26 percent for Hildebrandt.
Hurt's triumph in Buckingham over Douglass was 51.60 percent to 46.85 percent, with a substantial 53.98 percent to 44.43 percent margin in Cumberland.
Kaine won in both Prince Edward, by a wide margin, and in Buckingham, with Allen taking Cumberland.
Prince Edward saw Kaine win 55.48 percent of the vote, nearly matching the percentage won by President Barack Obama, who won 55.55 percent, compared with Allen's 44.44 percent.
The race was much closer in Buckingham, where Kaine won by 50.26 percent to 49.72 percent for Allen.
Allen took Cumberland by 51.25 percent to 48.57 percent.
In an email to supporters, Kaine attributed his victory to them, crediting them with “a true grassroots campaign-powered by more than 50,000 individual donors-unprecedented in Virginia history…Your hard work, support and faith made it possible.”
Allen also emailed supporters, thanking them and saying, “I know we are all disappointed with the results of this long, hard-fought campaign. However, I'm still glad I got out of the grandstands and into the arena to fight…”
Two things most Virginians agreed upon, on the other hand, were the two constitutional questions, both of which passed with overwhelming Yes votes, to increase eminent domain protection and prevent property from being taken for private commercial development, and to allow the General Assembly to adjust the date of its one day Veto Session.