Shannon wins but Purves 'can't lose'
By Monty Tayloe
As expected by all involved, incumbent Democrat Steve Shannon easily held on to his 35th district House of Delegates seat, defeating Republican challenger Arthur Purves by just over 5,000 votes.
"My opponent and I had very different views of what we wanted for the district," said Shannon, in something of an understatement.
In a region that even before last night's election was described as "going blue," Purves ran as a hard right-wing Republican, calling for radical tax cuts, the halt of funding for the Dulles Metrorail extension and a return to prayer in schools. He also funded his campaign with a fraction of Shannon's funds. The outcome of the race was never in doubt, even to Purves, and perhaps it's that acceptance – and the fact that this is his sixth losing election – that allows him to take his loss so well.
"Really, I can't lose. The amount of support I received shows that I got my message out," Purves said.
Before the race, Purves said that if he received 20 percent of the vote, he would be "walking on air." The anti-tax activist and computer programmer ended up getting 36 percent of the vote, and he believes that result teaches a valuable lesson about politics.
"This shows that you don't need hundreds of thousands dollars to run a legitimate campaign, if you have a presence in the community," Purves said. "More legislators need to realize that."