The state Senate has eleven committees: Today, under Republican control, all 11 are chaired by white men representing districts than are more rural than typical for the state. In January, seven committees will be chaired by women, four by African-Americans (three of whom are women) and only three by white males. Northern Virginians will have the most powerful General Assembly representation ever. So opines Anita Kumar with the Washington Post.
As for priorities, writes Kumar, “many legislators believe the shift in the Senate will mean a greater focus on roads and transit, growth controls, crime and economic development.”
She also quotes Sen. Walter Stosch, R-Henrico, the outgoing Senate Majority Leader. Democratic leaders, he says, are “finding out how difficult it is balancing the interests in the state. You truly have to take into account geographic diversity, even if it’s in conflict with seniority.”
The nugget of insight from the Stosch quote is this: The politics of geography will continue to trump the politics of party, race and gender. Ds and Rs from the same region will frequently join to push issues of regional import. Likewise, Ds and Rs will remain responsive to the big-money interests that dominate the campaign contributions. Unquestionably, the state Senate will be more responsive to left-side-of-the-aisle culture war issues and to redistribution-of-wealth issues. Without a commitment to Fundamental Change, the machinations of the General Assembly will grind on much as before.
