Democrat John Miller smiles beating Republican Tricia Stall for the 1st Senate District seat. (Diane Cebula, Daily Press / November 6, 2007)
NEWPORT NEWS - Democrat John Miller defeated Republican Tricia Stall on Tuesday by about 700 votes in a closely watched race to replace Republican incumbent Sen. Marty Williams.
Miller got 15,469 votes, while Stall pulled in 14,747, according to unofficial results from the State Board of Elections.The race has gotten a lot of attention from lawmakers and political insiders because it could play a major role in determining which party has control of the Senate when lawmakers redraw political boundaries after the census in 2011.
That intense scrutiny brought huge amounts of money into both campaigns, and led to loads of television commercials and campaign mailers littering the Peninsula.
Miller has spent the majority of his campaign touting himself as a fiscal conservative and bringing up his links and working relationship with the GOP -- he has served as a longtime adviser and aid to Republican U.S. Sen. Paul Trible, who now heads up Christopher Newport University.
Miller has reached out to the Republican centrists who backed Williams, by appealing to moderate voters from both parties and stressing that he will be a common sense, problem solver who will work across partisan lines to get things done."I'm very hopeful that we can change some things in Virginia still," Stall said. "There are a lot of citizens out there right now who are with me and who understand where we need to take Virginia."
Stall has also gotten assistance on the campaign trail from her recently repaired relationship with the moderate members of the GOP who lead the Senate.
Those lawmakers spent thousands trying to defend Williams from Stall's primary challenge, painting her as a extremist who was unfit for office. But with control of the Senate hanging over just a handful of close races, those same leaders have now endorsed Stall and helped fund her campaign because she could be the candidate that keeps Republicans in control of the agenda and the committees in the Senate.
In the end, however, it appeared that Stall was unable to effectively woo moderate Republicans to her cause.
"There were some Republicans who probably decided to support my opponent," she said.
Newport News, Va., Daily Press
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