Senators and Representatives Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Senators and Representatives - Research Paper Example The voters have tended to choose presidential candidates from the said party for three elections already. Apparently, this only gives the impression that the district may well be considered as a bulwark of the Republican Party. The presidential elections since the year 2000 provide figures that proved this conclusion. In 2000, when George W. Bush ran for president, he got 37 percent of the votes. As he continued to banner the war on terror, and riding on the bandwagon effect of the American response to 9/11, President Bush managed to be reelected. The 7th District of Virginia produced 38 percent of its registered voters in favor of the incumbent chief executive. While John McCain was very unpopular in other states, in the district, he and vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin were able to obtain a majority of 53.16 percent of the votes (Virginia State Board of Elections, n.d.). This obviously made the tandem win in the district. All these figures only prove how the district’ s population has the tendency to favor one party over the other. The voters in the district also favor congressional candidates who belong to the Republican Party. From January 1971 until the present, the district has always had a Republican congressman. This means that the GOP has been dominant in the counties composing for about four decades already. However, this is not the case when it comes to the voters’ choice of senator. In the 2008 senatorial elections, Sen. Mark Warner, a Democrat, won over Republican James Gilmore III with a huge margin of 88,461 votes. Sen. Warner took 62.25 percent of the total votes (Virginia State Board of Elections, n.d.). In the 2000 elections, however, a Republican, Sen. G.F. Allen won with a great majority also. As the presidential elections would show, it is clear that the 7th district of Virginia leans to the Republicans when it comes to choosing the country’s chief executive. This is the same tendency that is displayed in congress ional elections, particularly when it comes to selecting a representative in the lower house. Its choice for senator, however, has changed only in the last senatorial elections. It remains to be seen whether this signifies a start of a new trend. Rep. Eric Cantor is the district’s congressman. He has been considered as the Republican Party’s fast-rising leaders. Aside from being a lawyer, Rep. Cantor is also a businessman. Prior to being elected a member of the U.S. House of Representatives, he was a member of the state of Virginia’s legislative body. He was first noticed on Virginia’s political scene when he became part of the House of Delegates from 1992 until 2000 (Project Vote Smart, n.d.). In 2000, he was elected as congressman. It did not take long before he immediately became prominent in the halls of Congress. He first became popular among fellow Republicans in Congress which resulted in him being named as chief deputy majority whip for the party in 2002-2006. He later held the position of chief deputy minority whip in 2006-2008. As he became more accepted as a party leader, Rep. Cantor became minority whip for about two years in 2008. This year, his influence became even broader when he became the majority leader of the House of Representatives. Considering his growing influence in the Republican Party, it is only expected that Rep. Cantor’