Democrats sweep Virginia, New Jersey governor’s races

Associated Press

RICHMOND, Va.

Voters in Virginia and New Jersey gave Democratic gubernatorial candidates large victories Tuesday and sent a clear message of rebuke to President Donald Trump.

In Virginia’s hard-fought contest, Democratic Lt. Gov. Ralph Northam defeated Republican Ed Gillespie. In New Jersey front-running Democrat Phil Murphy overcame Republican Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno to succeed unpopular GOP Gov. Chris Christie.

The wins in Virginia and New Jersey are a morale boost to Democrats who had so far been unable to channel anti-Trump energy into success at the ballot box in a major election this year.

Roseann Petropoulos said her opposition to Trump led her out in the cold rain to cast her ballot for Murphy in New Jersey.

“Trump was huge,” she said. “Because back in the ’70s when we got civil rights for people, women’s rights, we have a chance for that to be reversed. It’s scary.”

Northam rode to victory in part by tapping into voters’ regret at Trump’s victory in last year’s national election. Murphy had an easier pathway in New Jersey, where Guadagno contended with both Trump’s and Christie’s unpopularity.

Northam, the state’s lieutenant governor, repeatedly tried to tie Gillespie to the president. His victory was in large part due to a surge in anti-Trump energy since the president took office. Democrats said they had record levels of enthusiasm heading into the race in Virginia, a swing-state and the only Southern state that Trump lost last year.

Gillespie kept Trump at a distance throughout the campaign but tried to rally the president’s supporters with hard-edge attack ads focused on illegal immigration and preserving Confederate statues. The strategy was criticized by Democrats and some Republicans as race baiting, but drew praise from former Trump strategist Steve Bannon and others as a canny way to win a state that voted for Hillary Clinton last year.

After Tuesday’s loss though, Trump suggested that Gillespie hurt himself by not more closely aligning himself with the president.

“Ed Gillespie worked hard but did not embrace me or what I stand for,” Trump said, before pointing out that Republicans have won every special election to the U.S. House since he was elected.

In Virginia, Northam’s victory is another sign of the state’s shift toward a more liberal electorate. Democrats have won every statewide election since 2009 and now have won four out of the last five gubernatorial contests. Northam banked heavily during the campaign on his near-perfect political resume and tried to cast himself as the low-key doctor with a strong southern drawl as the antidote to Trump.

“We need comfort food, Ralph is comfort food,” Del. John Bell told volunteer canvassers at a rally over the weekend.

Also in Virginia, a transgender candidate defeated an incumbent Virginia lawmaker Tuesday who sponsored a bill that would have restricted which bathrooms she could use.

Democrat Danica Roem, a former journalist, is set to make history as the first openly transgender person elected and seated in a state legislature in the United States. She unseated Republican Del. Bob Marshall, one of the state’s longest serving and most socially conservative lawmakers. The race was one of the year’s most high profile, drawing international attention and big money to the northern Virginia House of Delegates district outside the nation’s capital.