The Americans for Tax Reform anti-tax pledge may have played a role in the loss of a Republican seat in Virginia's House of Delegates. GOP candidate Michael Ball lost the seat to a pro-business Democrat, Paula Miller, by only 92 votes December 14. (Ball was hoping to succeed U.S. Rep.-elect Thelma Drake, a Republican elected November 2.) But when Ball refused to sign ATR's pledge, he essentially aligned himself with Virginia Republicans who supported Democrat Gov. Mark Warner's tax hike.