If Barone missed that, it's extremely sloppy research for one who's reputedly such a good analyst. OTOH if he knew it and ignored it to make his point, that's striking in its intellectual dishonesty.
Barone addressed Once-Ler's points in his article.
And I don't know that you could really call the Virginia GOP gov primary contested. The fact that there were two names on the ballot doesn't mean the result was even remotely in doubt. It's been a Kilgore-Kaine race for over a year.