General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: A little known fact about Virginia's race last night that some people seem to want to ignore. [View all]Nay
(12,051 posts)of the huge university complex downtown (lots of students from everywhere else), and the fact that it also has a large black population. The same is true for several southern VA counties like Surrey, etc. These areas are blue not because the southern white population is finally getting its shit straight. They are blue because they DON'T have a majority of your regular southern white population.
There are also small city islands (Charlottesville, Harrisonburg) that vote Dem because of universities and/or educated white and black folks.
I'm not sure why, but Nelson and Albemarle Counties in the Shenandoah Valley are also blue. I will guess that it's because many wealthier retired DC workers retire there; there are wineries sprouting up, etc., and I think these voters are transplants and well-educated.
IMO, a huge influx of outsiders to desirable areas of the state is really what is changing in VA, not the minds of the locals.