In the wake of an overwhelming election loss, Virginia Republicans are looking to the future.
As precinct returns started rolling in on election night, Loudoun County Republican Chairman Scott Pio didn't like what he was seeing.
"Am I frustrated? Hell yes. Do we have problems in the Republican Party? Hell yes, and there'd better be a postmortem," Pio says. "And if there's not, I'm going to be calling for resignations."
Now he's calling for the resignation of Republican Party Chairman Mark Peake, who dismisses Pio as a disgruntled rival for chairman of the party. As for those disappointing election results, Peake says Democrats outspent Republicans.
"The Democrats spent $66 million, and the Republicans spent $26 million. We were outspent in the House races by $40 million, and there were really only about 15 competitive races," Peake says. "So, we were outspent by $40 million; most of it being spent in 15 races, and we lost 13 of them."
That means only 36 Republicans will be on the floor of the 100-seat House of Delegates chamber when the General Assembly gavels into session in January. The chairman says his plan for the future of the party is this: Get back to work, register more voters and do a better job of getting out the vote.
This report, provided by Virginia Public Radio, was made possible with support from the Virginia Education Association.
