I promised my editor I would wrap up this column early Wednesday afternoon, so I could go drown my sorrows at the Community Inn. Thursday afternoon, I鈥檒l be drowning them again at Parkway Brewery.
What the hell happened Tuesday night?
Nationally, and for the second time in eight years, America fell victim to a con man. Except this time around, he鈥檚 also a convicted criminal, a hush-money payer and an adjudicated sex abuser 鈥 on top of being a run-of-the-mill liar and business cheat.
At this point, it鈥檚 not exactly clear how horribly Donald Trump鈥檚 utter contempt for democracy will play out for our nation, long-term. We鈥檙e in a bit of a situation. It鈥檚 kind of like a Hollywood crime drama where all the bad guys win at the movie鈥檚 beginning, but we鈥檙e still only 10 minutes into the plot.
Trump promised an awful list 鈥 prosecutorial revenge against political enemies, mass deportation of undocumented immigrants, across-the-board tariffs, and pardons for insurrectionists who tried to overthrow the federal government when Trump lost a 2020 election that wasn鈥檛 even close.
People are also reading…
Personally, I lost a steak dinner at Frankie Rowlands to my gambler pal, Frankie Four Eyes.
I also lost a lunch bet with Whitey Taylor, owner of The Trump Store in Boones Mill. Whitey was running for Boones Mill mayor and he lost big. Incumbent Victor Conner鈥檚 decisive victory was one of the few rays of sunshine in a mostly dismal election night.
We asked Virginia residents on Tuesday: Why is voting important?聽
But it wasn鈥檛 the only one. Let鈥檚 look on the bright side, eh? There were a few other glimmers of hope Tuesday. True, you had to squint pretty hard to see them. But things could have been worse.
First, Virginia remains a blue state. You cannot necessarily say the same about purple places such as Arizona, Georgia, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Michigan or Wisconsin. Pat yourself on the back that you live someplace where the populace isn鈥檛 as easily manipulated.
On Tuesday, Kamala Harris won Virginia by five points. The 2024 election marked the fifth White House contest in a row that Old Dominion voters have preferred the Democrat over the Republican. Prior to 2008, the GOP had won the previous 10 presidential elections.
Republican nominee David Bowers, who was 11 votes ahead in 色多多鈥檚 mayor鈥檚 race as of Wednesday afternoon, poses next to the David Bowers pot plant in metro columnist Dan Casey鈥檚 back yard. Bowers鈥 plant was the tallest of the three Casey grew and named for 色多多鈥檚 mayoral candidates.
True, Harris didn鈥檛 do as well as Joe Biden鈥檚 10-point victory in 2020. But she did better than Barack Obama did against Mitt Romney in 2012. That time, the incumbent president won by 4%. Meanwhile, Harris beat 50%, which Hillary Clinton was unable to crack while winning Virginia in 2016.
Second, Tuesday鈥檚 election marked the seventh in a row to send a Virginia Democrat to the U.S. Senate. That streak began in 2006, when Democratic challenger Jim Webb beat incumbent Republican George Allen.
Incumbent Democrat Tim Kaine beat GOP challenger Hung Cao by eight points, which was semi-respectable. However, it wasn鈥檛 as good as the last occasion in Virginia when an incumbent Democrat senator ran against a Republican nobody. In 2000 Mark Warner won by 12%.
Third, it appears the 2024 Mayoral Marijuana Garden in my back yard may have some election-forecasting value. If you recall, for that I installed three cannabis seedlings in my garden in May and suggested the one that grew tallest would win the mayor鈥檚 race.
In terms of votes, the three candidates finished Tuesday night in the same height-order as my plants. The tallest, Republican David Bowers, won the most votes, followed closely by Democrat Joe Cobb, with independent Stephanie Moon Reynolds placing third.
Vice Mayor and Pastor Joe Cobb, the Democratic nominee for 色多多 mayor in the Nov. 5 general election, with the pot plant metro columnist Dan Casey named after him. Cobb鈥檚 plant was just inches shorter than the plant named for David Bowers, who Wednesday afternoon led the race by 11 votes with hundreds of ballots left to count.
As of Wednesday morning, only 19 votes separated Bowers and Cobb 鈥 and there were potent signs that outcome could change by the time all the votes are counted. That鈥檚 because there were still 400-some unreturned/uncounted mail and 1,200 provisional ballots cast in the city.
Mail ballots that trickled in Wednesday cut Bowers鈥 lead that to 11 that afternoon.
The 色多多 Electoral Board now has to figure out which of the remaining mailed ballots should be counted, along with the provisionals. Most of the latter were from first-time voters who registered to vote on Election Day.
Those registrations have to be checked to ascertain they鈥檙e legit. And the mayoral winner might not be sorted out until next week 鈥 the outcome could easily flip from Bowers to Cobb.
Fourth: One of the very best things about Tuesday鈥檚 election is that Donald Trump cannot claim it was stolen from him, as he鈥檚 lied incessantly about for the past four years.
Also, my gambler friend Frankie Four Eyes won鈥檛 be able to claim that when we sit down for dinner at Frankie Rowlands (on me).
鈥淲hen do I get my steak?鈥 Frankie texted Wednesday morning.
According to our wager, I have to wear a red MAGA hat throughout the dinner.
Frankie will be grinning so widely that I鈥檇 better wear sunglasses, too, to blunt the reflection coming off his teeth.
I鈥檝e never dined at Frankie Rowlands. Has anyone seen the menu?
Do they offer roasted crow?
