After sweeping victories in last year’s elections, the Fairfax County populace appeared to pass a referendum on the Republican Party, and the start of a new era political dominance seemed all but assured.

One year later, however, the Democrats have found themselves in a precarious position once again. Though the party retained several seats in the General Assembly, the overall results of the night made for a somber mood at the Fairfax County Democratic Committee’s election night party at Velocity 5 in Merrifield.

“There’s no sugar coating it,” said U.S. Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-11). “We lost. Tonight is what happens when we’re complacent, when we take things for granted. It’s a useful reminder that it’s not set in stone that we win every election.”

The reason for the disappointment, according to party members, was the losses sustained at the top levels of the state government. Creigh Deeds, the Democratic candidate for governor, had a disappointing showing in Fairfax County, losing by 4,529 votes to Republican candidate Bob McDonnell and losing by 343,640 votes overall. Though Democratic candidate for lieutenant governor Jody Wagner won by nearly 10,000 votes in the county, she lost overall by more than 250,000. Rounding it out was Democrat Steve Shannon’s loss to Republican Ken Cuccinelli in the attorney general race, though Shannon did carry the county.

“We all know what happened at the top, and we will be, in some sense, the opponent now,” said U.S. Sen. Jim Webb (D-Va). “But there should never be an enduring aristocracy in this country, and we will challenge the new governor, lieutenant governor and attorney general to live up to the standards of fairness.”

While the losses at the top put a damper on the proceedings Tuesday night’s party, the Democrats were still elated to see their stalwarts get reelected in races that, for the most part, were not competitive. Incumbent Del. David Bulova (D-37) secured an easy victory in a race in which he did not have a Republican opponent. According to unofficial results posted by the Virginia Electoral Board Wednesday morning, Bulova garnered more than 67 percent of the vote, easily outpacing Independent Green Party candidate Anna Choi and Independent Christopher DeCarlo.

“It feels good to be able to pull one out [for the party],” Bulova said. “But I also have a lot of good friends and colleagues weren’t able to, so suddenly, the night is bittersweet.”

Del. Vivian Watts (D-39), was also able to retain her seat, receiving more than 56 percent of the vote. Watts ran against Republican Joe Bury, Independent Green Party candidate James Leslie and Libertarian Matt Cholko. Though Watts was satisfied with her victory, she, like her fellow party members, was more concerned about what was lost and why it happened.

“I’ve never been lectured so much going door-to-door,” Watts said. “There is a tremendous amount of concern on federal issues, and that impacted the local races. Everything, including the economy, is up in the air [at that level] and there are a lot of concerned people because of it.”

Del. David Marsden (D-41) was another local Democrat who retained his seat, although his victory came by a much slimmer margin than he had hoped. Republican Kerry Bolognese and Independent Green Party candidate C. Monique Berry challenged Marsden. Despite being the incumbent, Marsden defeated Bolognese by only 208 votes, securing 49.61 of the vote compared to Bolognese’s 48.61.

“Everyone wants to win by a large number, and I didn’t,” Marsden said. “What won it for me, I believe, is my constituent service over the years and connections within the community that I’ve formed. I think that people recognized that I was a good person to keep in the legislature.”

In other local races, Democrat Mark Sickles soundly defeated republican Tim Nank , while Democrat Susan Conrad lost the 40th District delegate race to incumbent Republican Tim Hugo and Democrat Greg Werkheiser fell to incumbent Republican David Albo (R-42) in the 42nd District.

“There were lessons learned tonight,” Bulova said. “We’ll just have to go back and figure out how to regroup and send our message in positive way.”