Something historic happened during the elections on Tuesday, and it will take some time before the pundits and the historians can figure out what it means. In fact, the final makeup of the General Assembly is still yet to be determined, as at least one of the contested seats for the House of Delegates will go down to a recount.

But one thing is sure — and, frankly, it was sure before the election: Suffolk, one of the fastest growing communities in Virginia, will have one more delegate than it did before.

Both Emily Brewer and Rebecca Colaw, who were facing each other for the 64^th House District seat are from this city.

One of the things that set the two apart from much of the rest of the political machinery that churned during the past six to 12 months is the fact that they both ran clean campaigns. Perhaps it’s because they have offices right across the street from each other. Perhaps it’s just because Suffolk encourages people to be different. Either way, both Republicans and Democrats can be proud of their respective candidates in this race.

Brewer, the Republican, emerged victorious, garnering a much higher percentage of votes than her opponent, and bucking the trend that emerged of Democrats taking back seats in the legislature. But we have every confidence that she will represent all of the people of Suffolk and the rest of the 64^th District well and with distinction, and we hope that people of all political stripes in the city return the favor by giving her a chance to do the work she has pledged to do in Richmond.

We’re proud of both candidates for running campaigns that were above the fray. And we’re excited to know that Suffolk will have such fine representation in Richmond.