DID VOTES FOR LIBERTARIAN SINK REPUBLICAN FOR GOVERNOR IN VIRGINIA?

If you think that the Libertarian candidate for Governor in Virginia, Robert Sarvis, was responsible for the loss of Tea Party candidate Ken Cuccinelli to Democrat Terry McAullife in Virginia perhaps you should think again.  Sarvis got 145,470 votes for governor which if added to Cuccinelli's total would have meant a clear victory for Cuccinelli.  But not so fast.

In the contest for Lieutenant Governor, Democrat Ralph Northram won more handily than did McAullife and got 189,000 more votes than did McAullife.  If you added all the Sarvis votes to McAullife, McAullife would still be 65,000 votes short of his Lieutenant Governor colleague.  About 35,000 more people voted for Governor than did for Lieutenant Governor.

Why would Libertarians vote for a Democrat?  Well, for one thing, Democrats are Social Libertarians.  A real Libertarian does not want the government in our bedrooms, which Cuccinelli was (is) eager to do, any more than Democrats.  Normally Libertarians side with the Republican Party because of economic issues, but when personal issues become the issue, perhaps they will go for a Democrat.

The popular view in the media is that Cuccinelli's stand against Obamacare almost gained him a victory,  Perhaps, but please note that he still did not win, even though Democrats do not like McAullife and felt he was a weak candidate all along, so it is likely that a lot of Democrats just didn't turn out for the election and some who did, just did not vote for McAullife.

Time will tell just how good or bad a governor McAullife will be.  I do not know enough about him to judge.