5 Takeaways On Virginia's Election Sweep For Democrats
Ed Gillespie
Ralph Northam beat  Ed Gillespie  in the governorâs race 53.9 to 45 percent â by nearly nine points. Justin Fairfax beat Jill Vogel in the lieutenant governorâs race 52.7 to 47.3. And Mark Herring beat John Adams 53.3 to 46.7 percent.
By comparison  Hillary Clinton won 52.8 percent of the two-party portion of the 2016 vote to Donald Trumpâs 47.2 percent. Vogel and Adams were known as strong Trump supporters  whereas  Gillespie  was known as an establishment Republican who tried to embrace Trumpism without talking about Trump. Vogel and Adams performed state-wide roughly the same as Trump did  whereas  Gillespie  just got crushed.  Gillespie  only lost  his  2014 Senate race to Warner by less than a percentage point.
What does it mean that  Gillespie  performed not just worse than Trump  and worse than  he  did in 2014  but worse than  his  top-of-the-ballot cohorts who were openly Trump-supportive? Many theories have been offered.
Some say  his  attempt at fusionism failed  and that you canât be half a populist and expect voters to buy it. Others say  he  didnât have the benefit of running against Clinton  a candidate who managed to lose nationwide despite having so many resources supporting her. Others say itâs just Gillespie himself â a seasoned swamp lobbyist and establishment figure running for office at a time when voters have had enough of that sort. But  Gillespie  performed quite well with downstate  traditional conservative Republican voters  failing to resonate in  his  own homeland of Northern Virginia.  He  only did a tiny bit better than Trump in the heart of the swamp â Fairfax County. Thatâs Gillespieâs home county!
No matter the cause   Gillespie  didnât do as well as Trump in a race where his running mate Vogel did slightly better than Trump had.
If  Gillespie  had won  his  race for the governorship and the Republicans kept the House of Delegates despite the lack of progress by Republicans who control the congressional and executive branches  maybe there would be an argument for continuing in that vein. But with Democrats emboldened by their huge win in Virginia and a demoralized Republican base  members of Congress are delusional if they think they can keep their jobs without passing tax reform  repealing Obamacare  and some other dramatic achievement.
Ralph Northam beat   [TGT]   in the governorâs race 53.9 to 45 percent â by nearly nine points. Justin Fairfax beat Jill Vogel in the lieutenant governorâs race 52.7 to 47.3. And Mark Herring beat John Adams 53.3 to 46.7 percent.
By comparison  Hillary Clinton won 52.8 percent of the two-party portion of the 2016 vote to Donald Trumpâs 47.2 percent. Vogel and Adams were known as strong Trump supporters  whereas  Gillespie  was known as an establishment Republican who tried to embrace Trumpism without talking about Trump. Vogel and Adams performed state-wide roughly the same as Trump did  whereas  Gillespie  just got crushed.  Gillespie  only lost  his  2014 Senate race to Warner by less than a percentage point.
What does it mean that  Gillespie  performed not just worse than Trump  and worse than  he  did in 2014  but worse than  his  top-of-the-ballot cohorts who were openly Trump-supportive? Many theories have been offered.
Some say  his  attempt at fusionism failed  and that you canât be half a populist and expect voters to buy it. Others say  he  didnât have the benefit of running against Clinton  a candidate who managed to lose nationwide despite having so many resources supporting her. Others say itâs just Gillespie himself â a seasoned swamp lobbyist and establishment figure running for office at a time when voters have had enough of that sort. But  Gillespie  performed quite well with downstate  traditional conservative Republican voters  failing to resonate in  his  own homeland of Northern Virginia.  He  only did a tiny bit better than Trump in the heart of the swamp â Fairfax County. Thatâs Gillespieâs home county!
No matter the cause   Gillespie  didnât do as well as Trump in a race where his running mate Vogel did slightly better than Trump had.
If  Gillespie  had won  his  race for the governorship and the Republicans kept the House of Delegates despite the lack of progress by Republicans who control the congressional and executive branches  maybe there would be an argument for continuing in that vein. But with Democrats emboldened by their huge win in Virginia and a demoralized Republican base  members of Congress are delusional if they think they can keep their jobs without passing tax reform  repealing Obamacare  and some other dramatic achievement.