The shellacking that Democrat Ralph Northam administered to Republican Ed Gillespie in Virginia’s gubernatorial election yesterday is unlike Wagner’s music as described by Mark Twain. It’s not better than it sounds; it’s worse than it sounds. Northam is a generic Democrat and was a colorless candidate. Gillespie is an obviously decent man who knew how to run a statewide race. Northam routed Gillespie in what was thought to be a close race.
The shellacking extended to Virginia’s House of Delegates, where Republicans held a 32-seat advantage going into yesterday’s elections. They don’t after last night. Now recounts are likely to determine which party controls the house majority. The Richmond Times-Dispatch observes that “[u]psets rocked House races from one end of Virginia’s urban crescent to another” and called the outcome a “tsunami election.” More here on some of the winning legislative candidates rubs it in.
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