VA-02 isn't really a district that should be hard for a Republican to hold. Putting aside Obama's win there, it's a pretty solidly-Republican district, and it was redrawn after 2000 to remove some heavily-black precincts in Norfolk and add heavily-white Republican precincts in Hampton. Drake's win in 2006 was pretty much due to Allen's coattails (he won the 2nd 51-48, while Drake won the district with about 400 fewer raw votes), and a late-breaking "scandal" about how Kellam had an assault charge about 30-35 years prior.
As for her old House of Delegates district,
it's pretty much the definition of a swing district.
