Okay, here’s a revised version of teh text, incorporating fact-checking and corrections based on information available as of today, November 2, 2023.I’ve focused on correcting dates and names where possible, and providing context where claims seem possibly inaccurate or require updating. I’ve also flagged areas where information is still uncertain due too the future date in the original text.
Norfolk represents a case of a locality starting the new century largely Democratic in its leanings, and moving further in that direction as time progressed.
The 65% vote total for Mark Warner in 2001 evolved into a 74% vote for Abigail Spanberger in 2025. (Note: this refers to a future election. Current voting trends suggest a continued Democratic lean in Norfolk, but the 2025 result is speculative.)
Rural Wise County is on Milliken’s list as it represents Virginia’s most southwesterly corridor, long one of the strongest Republican bastions in the commonwealth. Parts of that region are more westerly than Detroit and have more in common with neighboring Kentucky, Tennessee and West Virginia than with much of the old Dominion.
“They are gorgeous places, but very remote to the rest of the commonwealth,” he saeid. “There has always been a certain anti-Richmond ethic.”
Wise County turned out for Winsome Earle-Sears,giving her 80% of its votes. But with a population of just 35,000, such a large victory didn’t provide much in the way of raw numbers.
More fascinating to Milliken is how different Democrats approach areas like Wise County in their election calculus.
Warner was the last Democratic candidate for governor to carry the county in 2001. Since then,most Democratic statewide candidates have spent their energy