Democrats in Virginia on Tuesday night retained their majority in the state Senate — a blow to Republicans who were hoping to achieve total control of the state legislature.
Control of Virginia’s House of Delegates — which was held by Republicans going into Election Day — remained uncertain as of early Wednesday.
The inability for Republicans to flip the state Senate demonstrated the limits of their party’s messaging on key issues ahead of next year’s presidential and congressional elections.
The Democratic-led upper chamber will also prevent Gov. Glenn Youngkin from executing much of his remaining agenda during his final two years in office.
Tuesday night represented the first good news for Democrats in the commonwealth since Youngkin upset former Gov. Terry McAuliffe in 2021, making gains in districts that had voted for President Biden 12 months earlier by running on issues such as public safety and greater parental roles in education.
“We’ve empowered parents and provided tutoring to combat learning loss; made historic investments in law enforcement and mental health services; signed $5 billion in tax relief and added 230,000 new jobs,” Youngkin declared in a Nov. 1 video announcement touting his administration’s successes.
“Elect a Republican team to back me up, and I promise we’ll deliver,” he said.
The results underscore the lingering vulnerabilities of Republican talking points on the economy, crime and education after the Supreme Court’s decision last year to overturn Roe v. Wade and end constitutional protections for abortion nationwide.
Youngkin and Virginia Republicans had pledged, if given both houses in the General Assembly, to pass a 15-week abortion ban with exceptions for rape, incest and the life of the mother.
Democrats had touted Virginia as the only southern state to uphold its laws protecting abortion, while accusing GOP candidates statewide of harboring extreme positions on that issue, along with gun control and voting.
“What we have found out over the last two years is that that vest-wearing, affable, basketball-playing dad is really a MAGA Extremist,” Virginia Democratic Party Chair Susan Swecker told CNN, comparing Youngkin’s agenda with that of former President Donald Trump.
“I am confident from going around the commonwealth, campaigning for our candidates, and out talking to voters, that there’s a lot of buyer’s remorse.”
The Democrats’ campaign effort included fundraisers and events headlined by high-profile Democrats like House Speaker emerita Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, as well as radio ads narrated by former first lady Michelle Obama.
Biden, 80, also threw his weight into the race via a fundraising email from the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee, saying “the stakes have never been higher.”
“Governor Glenn Youngkin and extreme Republicans have made it clear that they’re trying to take our country back on issues like choice,” Biden said.
On Sunday, a New York Times/Siena College poll found the president trailing behind Republican frontrunner Donald Trump among registered voters in five of the six battleground states.
The survey also found 57% of registered voters in the states — Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada and Pennsylvania — listed economic issues like jobs, taxes and the cost of living as their primary concern when choosing candidates.
Just 29% of those registered swing-state voters mentioned abortion, guns or democracy as a more important consideration.
Democrats had a fundraising edge in Virginia, raising a whopping $62 million for state Senate candidates and $48 million for House candidates this cycle, according to the nonpartisan Virginia Public Access Project.
Virginia Republicans raised roughly $41 million and $37 million for Senate and House of Delegates candidates, respectively.