As Steve noted in his post on yesterday’s election, the results in Virginia did not go the Republicans’ way. Not at all.
Outspent significantly by Democrats, Republicans lost control over both houses of the Virginia General Assembly. The Democrats picked up at least two seats in the state Senate and at least five in the House of Delegates.
These aren’t massive gains, but they give control of the legislature to the Dems. And the governor, Ralph “Black Face” Northam, is a Democrat.
However, there may be a silver lining for the GOP, though not for Virginians. The Democratic party that has taken control of the Commonwealth is more radical than the Democratic party that ran the show in the 1980s and early 1990s. It’s also more radical than it pretended to be when making big gains in recent years.
Virginia may be a blue state now, as governor Black Face proclaimed yesterday night. However, I’m not sure it’s ready for what Democrats have in mind.
Northern Virginians may be ready for it. Turnout was heavy there. However, this did not seem to be the case in other parts of the Commonwealth.
If the Democrats govern from the left, we may see higher turnout in rural areas, for example, in the future. It’s also possible that in a post-Trump world, suburbanites will be more amenable to Republican candidates, assuming the Democrats overreach.
Gun control seems to have been the biggest issue overall, statewide. Virginians want more of it. Once they get it, the issue won’t be a big winner for Democrats and might become a loser if the Dems overreach.
Thus, I think it’s too early to conclude that Virginia has turned permanently “blue.” Clearly, it’s not going to be “red” again, but the Democrats might have peaked yesterday.
Unfortunately, I must add that radical, soft-on-crime prosecutors have swept to power in Northern Virginia, fueled by lavish funding from George Soros. I wrote here about the victories during the primaries of two Soros-backed candidates in these races.
In a follow-up post, I discussed the candidacy of an independent candidate, Jonathan Fahey, who challenged Soros’s man in Fairfax County. Many Power Line readers generously contributed to Fahey’s campaign, for which I’m thankful.
Fahey lost yesterday, and the race wasn’t close. It was a good day for criminals, not only in Fairfax County, but also in the counties of Arlington, Loudoun, and Prince William.
The mantra from the victors was that “safety and justice are not opposed.” I agree. But safety and leniency, which is what these prosecutors mean by “justice,” probably are.
If so, there will be a backlash against these prosecutors, just as there probably will be a backlash against Democratic legislators if they overreach.
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