Among the first-time U.S. senators elected Tuesday is U.Va. Law graduate Angus King, an independent from Maine who previously was that state's governor.
Philippe Griffiths was so looking forward to voting in his first presidential election that he voted absentee. For years the 18-year-old University of Virginia freshman sided with his parents beliefs and influence. Now on his own, Griffiths said he has developed his own thought pattern.
"But much like the rest of Appalachia, Virginia's coal country has become increasingly conservative and Republican in its voting habits," said Geoffrey Skelley, a political analyst at the University of Virginia's Center for Politics.
High turnout and passionate support among young voters helped carry Obama to victory in 2008. But can he count on them four years later? France24.com reports from the University of Virginia campus on Election Day.
USA Today reported Monday that two Virginia counties, Loudoun and Prince William, will help determine the winner of the Obama-Romney contest. Larry Sabato, director of the University of Virginia Center for Politics, deemed them as "exurbs, and they're diverse. The big breakthrough for Obama (in 2008) came when he won those counties."
(Commentary) "These are issues that the average member of Congress doesn't see as crucial," the University of Virginia's Craig Volden (Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy), an author of the forthcoming paper, told me, underscoring a very real aspect of our democratic legitimacy problem.
In one way, the conflict is refreshing, says Larry Sabato, director of the University of Virginia's Center for Politics. The two candidates are "presenting diametrically opposed visions, and that is interesting because often it isn't the case. You have two very different visions on the economy, on social issues, on some aspects of foreign policy."
Climate change and extreme weather events grab the headlines, but there is another, lesser known, global change underway on land, in the seas, and in the air: acidification. "It's a bigger picture than most of us know," says Janet Herman of the Department of Environmental Sciences at University of Virginia in Charlottesville.
This special designation is inspired by Robert Bruner, dean of the Darden School of Business at the University of Virginia, and his book, “Deals From Hell: M&A Lessons That Rise Above the Ashes.” Bruner’s requirements for consideration included destruction of market value; financial instability; impaired strategic position; organizational weakness; damaged reputation; or violation of ethical norms and laws.
The recent Virginia Film Festival featured a documentary on the nation’s broken health care system, following University of Virginia emergency medicine physician Dr. Pamela Ross as she makes rounds at the U.Va. Medical Center.
A study published in Psychological Science last year by Benjamin Converse and colleagues from the University of Virginia found that "when wanting and uncertainty are high and personal control is lacking, people may be more likely to help others. When people want an outcome over which they have little control, their donations of time and money increase."
"This is a big battleground district in this particular House election cycle," said Kyle Kondik, who analyses political races for the University of Virginia's Center for Politics.
University of Virginia students spent Tuesday evening keeping a close eye on the presidential and Senate races. Several minority student organizations came together for an election night watch party at Newcomb Hall.
"Democrats look likely to defeat many Republican incumbents, but some of their own incumbents will also lose; hence, lots of movement, but not much net change," said Kyle Kondik, House editor at the University of Virginia Center for Politics.
Argos quarterback Ricky Ray knew next to nothing about the tall, skinny kid from Spartanburg, S.C. when he started throwing passes to him at training camp. But Dontrelle Inman, 23, snagged every ball thrown his way and day by day started catching everybody’s eye. Ray and the University of Virginia receiver wound up developing terrific chemistry during the season as the 6-foot-2 first year pro pass catcher often eluded defenders, catching five touchdowns and hauling in deep passes that put the Argos into scoring position.
It may be that those who were still undecided Tuesday decided just not to show up, said Kyle Kondik, a political analyst at the University of Virginia's Center for Politics. "Everyone was talking about how the Democrats are unenthusiastic and the Republicans are fired up," Kondik said. "It sounds like that was all talk."
Political scientist Larry Sabato says the result will probably be a "status quo election" that reflects the reality of a "50-50 nation," evenly split between Obama and Romney, between the Democrats and the Republicans, and between a belief in government and a distrust of government.
“You never have to worry about an ex-president eating. Being a former president is a ticket to printing money. That’s all it is,” said Larry Sabato, a closely-watched political scientist at the University of Virginia. “When we elect someone president, we nearly guarantee he will become a one hundred millionaire.”
"The odds are always against it,” Larry Sabato, director of the University of Virginia’s Center for Politics, said. “But in a close election, it's always possible. … It has happened four times in American history. Is it going to happen a fifth time this year? Nobody knows."
The University of Virginia’s Larry Sabato, a longtime professor of political science who produces a “Crystal Ball” newsletter of his own, is predicting that Obama will win reelection with 290 electoral votes.