Here at the Albemarle County GOP election night party—at the Doubletree Hotel on Route 29, if you’d like to stop by—everything seems calm. Very calm. The chatter of the 150 to 200 guests, gathered in two rooms, doesn’t overwhelm the flatscreen TVs (provided by GOP donor Bill Crutchfield’s business local electronics business), which show results on Fox News. The crunch of red, white and blue tortilla chips is audible—along with the occasional cheer as more precincts report and confirm Virginia Republican senator Robert Hurt’s lead.
The last cheer announced a six-point lead, with 77 percent of precincts reporting. While Fox makes no mention of the fate of independent candidate Jeffrey Clark, Hurt seems to hold steady at 52 percent, while Democratic incumbent Tom Perriello holds tight around 46 percent.
