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thought VA was full of liberal union gov workers

Regarding unionized gov workers: Northern VA certainly is, and to a lesser extent Hampton Roads (although that has a huge military component and from the license plates in the area they probably vote via absentee in Florida).

Regarding LIBERAL unionized gov workers: not so much. The gov workers who live in NoVA are a different, and decidedly more Conservative, breed from those living in MD who are extremely Liberal. They are also, in my experience, downright ticked at Obama over a variety of things, including the pay freeze and proposed .005 pay increase for FY13. Now before everyone jumps up and down about selfish government drones feeding off the public $$$ trough, remember that the cost of living in the DC is so high and the positions overwhelmingly white collar (working in headquarters units) that it's one of the very few areas of the country where gov workers make less on average than their private sector counterparts.

In reality the "purpling" of VA, driven by the "blueing" of NoVA has been driven more by the rapid growth and continued strength of the tech sector out on the Dulles Corridor than by gov workers. This is also why Loudoun County is starting to move towards purple as well.