My family lives in the 5th district and my brother, who is an ardent Obama supporter/college student, apparently voted for Goode on his absentee ballot because he didn't know anything about this race. My mom said if it came down to one vote he would be in big trouble.

I've been out of the 5th district for some time, but I remember when Goode was elected as a democrat and then switched to independent after voting to impeach Clinton. He had a lot of respect in the community because ultimately, for better or worse, he was a pretty good embodiment of who composed that (widely expansive) district. I probably know those back roads as well as he does and I never thought to keep an eye on this race because it just seemed inconceivable that Goode could lose... he survived the 06 backlash and in his district only a few of the counties actually went for Obama.

Being a liberal in central and western virginia doesn't mean much by national standards, and I'm sure Pariello will be great for the district. It sounds like his commitment to service is the kind of thing that both the district and the Democratic party need. I hope he makes me proud of the district my family calls home, it's been a while since our representatives have been able to do that.

I've had the pleasure of getting to know Tom Perriello and his campaign team here in Southside Virginia over the past several months. Everything this article says is 100% accurate. Tom will do us proud in Congress. I predict great things from this young man.

My family lives in this congressional district too. Rabid goopers all, they voted for Petrillo on my begging to at least compare resumes. They claim it's their first blue vote since Carter.