Tomorrow is Election Day. Here in Virginia, 140 state legislative seats are at stake.

Our airwaves have been dominated in recent days with campaign ads. Interestingly, just about all of them mention immigration, and none of them accuse the opponent of being too harsh. (On the other hand, the ads are more supportive of gun control than I would have expected as a recent transplant to the Commonwealth. Then again, Northern Virginia has, year by year, become more and more the Southern wing of the District of Columbia.)

Tomorrow will be an interesting test case on the power of the immigration issue. Here’s how the Post puts it:

If the election turns on the immigration issue, however, it could put Democrats under pressure in the coming year to appear responsive on that issue without alienating immigrants, who traditionally have made up an important part of the party’s base.
“It’s a tough issue to solve,” said Sen. Charles J. Colgan (D-Manassas), who has become one of the most vulnerable incumbents of the year, in large measure because of the immigration debate. “We have to enforce our local ordinances, respond to people who complain about yards, cars. We have to try to do it but at the same time show some compassion.”

Over in the Corner, Kirkorian notes the differing styles of the two sides on this debate.

If Republicans exceed expectations – and things have looked pretty gloomy for the state GOP in recent cycles – and the issue of illegal immigration is key, you will hear a lot about that issue from coast to coast next year. Note this recent observation from Michael Barone:

That was apparent to me as I listened to a focus group of Republican voters in suburban Richmond, Va., conducted by Peter Hart for the Annenberg School of Communications. One voter after another complained that the immigration laws were not being enforced. None of them made any derogatory remarks about Latino immigrants — two said they admired how hard they work. They don’t want to see Latinos banished from this country. They want the immigrants here to be legally here.