During the past couple of elections, the Democratic Party has claimed major victories including the election of President Barack Obama while the Republicans have taken more of a backseat in Washington. The Democrats have seemed comfortably in control as the Republicans have lost power.

This year a small chance for the Republicans to redeem themselves surfaced. With an off year of only two elections, governor elections in Virginia and New Jersey, these elections drew an ample amount national attention. The race for who will be the next Virginia governor was an important battle for the Republicans to win.

The Republicans managed to seal the win of Bob McDonnell as Virginia’s new Governor. With this win, the Republicans should feel more empowered. They were able to rally up enough voters to support their ticket while the Democratic Party failed to excite their party followers.

For the Presidential Election last year over 90 percent of African Americans showed up to vote at the polls. In Virginia, less than ten percent of the African American voters who showed up to vote in the Presidential Election came to the polls to vote for Creigh Deeds. Unfortunately Creigh Deeds could not rally up the support necessary to win. Lucky for the Bob McDonnell, many voters including a huge number of women voters came out to support him at the polls.

Another reason for Bob McDonnell’s win was the overwhelming amount of independents that supported him. For every two independents who supported Bob McDonnell, one independent supported Creigh Deeds. The Republican success of McDonnell’s win was possible due to many different factors but mostly because of the independent and women votes he received. Hopefully with a new direction in mind, Bob McDonnell will lead Virginia in a positive direction as Virginia’s new Governor.