Top 6 Winners:

- Bob McDonnell. Obviously the former Virginia attorney general is the biggest winner of the night. He has led the Republican Party in Virginia back from the dead after a string of painful losses over the last decade.

- Positive politics. Let’s be clear, McDonnell’s campaign wasn’t a pushover. They aired plenty of attack ads and were more than willing to defend McDonnell’s values and record. Still, his campaign was more positive than his opponent’s. McDonnell had concrete plans for our roads, economy, schools, and budget and talked about them frequently. He tried to take the high road, and it worked. Further, even with the attacks from both McDonnell and Deeds, this campaign was 10 times cleaner than the mess we witnessed in New Jersey’s gubernatorial campaign where Gov. Corzine made fun of the weight of his opponent. As a result, Virginia has built on its reputation as the good government state.

- House Republicans. They picked up seats from some vulnerable Democrats (and a few that really weren’t all that vulnerable like Shannon Valentine in Lynchburg) and solidified the position of some vulnerable Republicans. The increased margin in the House will help McDonnell pass his agenda and adds to the feel of a mandate.

- Bill Bolling and Ken Cuccinelli. Bolling barely won the lt. governor’s race in 2005, but this year beat a better opponent by more than 15 points. Cuccinelli’s conservative politics would seem to indicate that a landslide victory in moderate Virginia would be difficult if not impossible. But, both men benefitted from McDonnell’s huge win.

- Teamwork. Lt. Governor Bolling’s willingness to run for reelection instead of challenging McDonnell in a Republican gubernatorial primary was a huge boost to the Republican Party’s effort to retake the governor’s mansion. It saved McDonnell millions of dollars and invaluable organizational time while the Democrats spent the first half of the year beating each other up and spending all their money.

- The eventual Republican nominee against Rep. Tom Perriello. Bob McDonnell’s victory has energized Republicans and shown a clear path to victory for Republicans in the Old Dominion. Perriello’s initial effort and constituent services and working his district are to be commended and he’ll put up a great fight, but after last night, his challenge just got a little harder.

I’ll look at the biggest losers tomorrow.