The Aftermath of the 24th State Senate Primary

Well, it's over. If you haven't heard by now, Emmett Hanger defeated Scott Sayre in yesterday's primary in a very close race. The final tally was 53.00% for Hanger, 46.99% for Sayre.

It was a close race, with each candidate winning their fair share of precincts and localities. In fact, out of the 9 cities and counties within the district, Sayre won 5 of them. Hanger simply managed to win large majorities in the larger localities, such as the City of Staunton and Augusta County.

Now, many people are speculating that the Bloggers4Sayre may have been Sayre's downfall, especially in Augusta and Staunton. It is certainly a valid discussion, though some will disagree with that sentiment. Here's what I think...

While a couple of the pro-Sayre bloggers and their actions turned me off to endorsing Sayre, he was a fine candidate on the issues. I think that many voters were attracted to this primary due to the noise created by the Sayre bloggers. Their loud and proud activism for Sayre got the attention of newspapers and the statewide bloggers who normally would have dismissed this primary due to it's location "out in the valley" and focused solely on the NoVa, Tidewater, and Richmond area races.

While some may have been like me, and felt pushed away by some of the more overzealous supporters...they did make me take a closer look at the candidate himself, and where he stands on various issues. I think that those who were on the fence, and weren't caught in any of the venom spit back and forth by various bloggers, were drawn to find out who this Sayre guy was and what did he stand for.

I think that, above all, is what gave Sayre an advantage in this primary and allowed him to almost upset a well-entrenched and popular incumbent in Emmett Hanger.

The SWAC bloggers seem to be very proud of what they've done to help Scott Sayre, and bring a more vocal, staunchly conservative voice to the district. I think they should be proud of their efforts, as attempting to unseat Emmett Hanger was not going to be an easy task. However, even in defeat, there was success...47% of the voters wanted a change in how their representative voted in the General Assembly, and hopefully Emmett Hanger will listen should he be re-elected.

Also, I think that this also bodes well for Libertarian Arin Sime, whom The Podium is endorsing. Sime runs on many of the same platforms that the Sayre supporters pushed. This race in the 24th is far from over...unless you're David Cox, but that's just my opinion.

Should be an interesting summer and fall.

To the Sayre bloggers, I tip my hat to you...we may not have agreed on tactics, but your efforts should not go without notice or appreciation.