The Virginian-Pilot
                            THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT  
              Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: Thursday, December 28, 1995            TAG: 9512280310
SECTION: LOCAL                    PAGE: B1   EDITION: FINAL 
SOURCE: GUY FRIDDELL
                                             LENGTH: Long  :  103 lines

GOP, BLACKS AND WOMEN ADD MUSCLE IN ASSEMBLY

I've had deeper emotional investments in other Virginia elections, but none has had more interesting dynamics than did November's races for the General Assembly.

In a fresh analysis, University of Virginia political scientist Larry Sabato defines them in his usual clean, engrossing detail. The electorate is indebted to him.

True, some things never change. The Democrats have now won 57 consecutive legislative general elections, ``an unparalleled period of 112 years of one-party control.''

But the GOP's tie in the 40-member state Senate is its high-water mark. ``Never in Virginia's history have so many declared Republican senators held seats.''

Yes, the Republicans are not just knocking on the statehouse door; they are on the verge of knocking it down. For Virginia's sake - and this, too, is my observation - it is just as well the Democrats edged them this trip. (More of that view, later.)

Sabato issues startling statistics. Whites voted Republican in 1995 legislative contests by about 60 percent to 38 percent; African-Americans voted Democratic by 93 percent to 6 percent.

When Republicans try to entice blacks into the GOP's big tent, they don't fool voters who are aware which party, at state and national levels, is more attentive to their problems, at least just now.

(In the racist-ridden era of Massive Resistance, the likes of Republicans Ted Dalton and Linwood Holton kept to the high road.)

Now the 14 African-Americans in the General Assembly (an increase of one) comprise 10 percent of the legislature, the highest of this century.

A heartening increase is occurring, as well, among Virginia's women legislators. A record 15 percent of the General Assembly is now female. Virginia ranks 36th among the 50 states in its proportion of women in the legislature - up from 43rd in 1993.

How reassuring when you recall that the first woman arrived in those stodgy male haunts, like some wind-blown rare bird from an exotic clime in the early 1950s.

The feminine flock increased gradually to two or three and then to half a dozen, and in a decade more its chorus may challenge the male majority.

It is not only that women are, by and large, more intelligent, but that the world would be a better place if their kinder, gentler outlook were given larger play.

For all its gains in women legislators, Virginia lags behind the national percentage of 20.6.

Nationally, Republicans account for 43.9 percent of all women legislators. In Virginia, the GOP can claim just 23.8 percent.

A salutary effect of the election's dynamics is their apparent impact on the thinking of Gov. George F. Allen which bodes well for him and the commonwealth. (More on that, too.)

I've had deeper emotional investments in other Virginia elections, but none has had more interesting dynamics than did November's races for the General Assembly.

In a fresh analysis, University of Virginia political scientist Larry Sabato defines them in his usual clean, engrossing detail. The electorate is indebted to him.

True, some things never change. The Democrats have now won 57 consecutive legislative general elections, ``an unparalleled period of 112 years of one-party control.''

But the GOP's tie in the 40-member state Senate is its high-water mark. ``Never in Virginia's history have so many declared Republican senators held seats.''

Yes, the Republicans are not just knocking on the statehouse door; they are on the verge of knocking it down. For Virginia's sake - and this, too, is my observation - it is just as well the Democrats edged them this trip. (More of that view, later.)

Sabato issues startling statistics. Whites voted Republican in 1995 legislative contests by about 60 percent to 38 percent; African Americans voted Democratic by 93 percent to 6 percent.

When Republicans try to entice blacks into the GOP's big tent, they don't fool voters who are aware which party, at state and national levels, is more attentive to their problems, at least just now.

(In the racist-ridden era of Massive Resistance, the likes of Republicans Ted Dalton and Linwood Holton kept to the high road.)

Now the 14 African Americans in the General Assembly (an increase of one) comprise 10 percent of the legislature, the highest of this century.

A heartening increase is occurring, as well, among Virginia's women legislators. A record 15 percent of the General Assembly is now female. Virginia ranks 36th among the 50 states in its proportion of women in the legislature - up from 43rd in 1993.

How reassuring when you recall that the first woman arrived in those stodgy male haunts, like some wind-blown rare bird from an exotic clime, in the early 1950s.

The feminine flock increased gradually to two or three and then to half a dozen, and in a decade more its chorus may challenge the male majority.

It is not only that women are, by and large, more intelligent, but that the world would be a better place if their kinder, gentler outlook were given larger play.

For all its gains in women legislators, Virginia lags behind the national percentage of 20.6.

Nationally, Republicans account for 43.9 percent of all women legislators. In Virginia, the GOP can claim just 23.8 percent.

A salutary effect of the election's dynamics is their apparent impact on the thinking of Gov. George F. Allen, which bodes well for him and the commonwealth. (More on that, too.) by CNB