University of Virginia Library

Machine Fails

Mr. Holton took an early lead and was never
headed as he won some areas that had been
considered Democratic for years. Many rural
counties, strongholds of the Byrd machine,
failed to deliver for Mr. Battle and went
Republican.

But the big margin came from the areas on
which Mr. Battle had relied — the cities. The
Tidewater area where Henry Howell was
supposedly to provide hefty support for Mr.
Battle, broke about even as Virginia Beach,
Hampton, and Newport News went for Mr.
Holton, and the Democratic victories in
Norfolk and Portsmouth were too small to
make up the difference.

The central areas also went Republican:
Roanoke and Roanoke County, and Lynchburg
all turned in solid Republican majorities. Salem,
where President Richard Nixon spoke last
week, returned a 72 per cent majority for
candidate Holton.

Charlottesville and Albemarle County, Mr.
Battle's home area, went barely Democratic, as
the Democrats' victory margin in the entire
county was only 135 votes.

United Press International predicted a
Holton victory at 10 p.m., as did the National
Broadcasting Company. Both also forecast a
Reynolds win at that time, but neither put a
flat prediction on the line for the race for
Attorney General.

The election is considered a victory for the
"Southern strategy" of President Nixon, who
appeared on television Monday night in a
pre-election telecast. Although no one could
assess the actual impact of the non-political
speech, its timing probably resulted in the
Republican's surprising triumph, exceeding
nearly all pre-election forecasts.