Election Day in Virginia gives Democrats reasons to stay positive despite Trump win

With the prospects of a second Trump term looming, Virginia voters held firm for Harris and down ballot Democrats.

Democrats looking for reasons to stay positive can look to Virginia. 

Vice President Kamala Harris beat former president Donald Trump in Virginia by six points, according to the latest figures from the state Department of Elections.

While Harris’ margin of victory was less than Biden’s 10-point victory in Virginia in 2020, it was better than Hillary Clinton’s five-point win in the state in 2016. And the slide from 2020’s results was less pronounced in Virginia than it was for Democrats in comparable states like Minnesota, New Mexico, and New Hampshire. 

In the lead-up to Election Day, even top state Democrats cautioned that they were unlikely to see the margin they enjoyed four years ago. US Sen. Tim Kaine has said Democrats’ over-performed in Virginia in 2020 due to the unique circumstances of the pandemic and the harsh reaction to Trump, and that he views Virginia as more of a four or five point state for Democrats. 

Harris’ sound victory in Virginia comes after months of Republican posturing and spin that the state was somehow in play for Trump. The former president even held a rally in Salem on the Saturday before Election Day. But in the end, Virginia solidified its status as a southern blue state that has not backed a Republican for president since 2004. 

In addition to once again rejecting Trump, Virginia stopped one of his far-right acolytes from going to Congress. Kaine soundly defeated Republican Hung Cao by nine points. After conceding defeat on X, Cao said he is done running for political office. 

“There is so much more work we have to do in Virginia, in Richmond, in this country, in this world,” Kaine told his supporters in Richmond last night. “I’m very fortified by the strength and the energy and the enthusiasm and the perseverance that you embody.” 

Democrats also proved victorious in one of the most competitive US House races in the country. 

Democrat Eugene Vindman defeated Republican Derrick Anderson in the race to fill the open seat in Virginia’s 7th congressional district. Vindman led with 50.9% of the vote, compared with Anderson’s 48.7%, according to the state Department of Elections. Anderson has yet to concede defeat, but that is not uncommon for Republicans. 

Republicans did, however, appear to hold onto their seat in the competitive race for the 2nd congressional district, which is anchored by Virginia Beach. Incumbent Republican Jen Kiggans led with 50.92% of the vote, compared with 46.8% for Democratic challenger Missy Cotter Smasal, as of this morning.

Speaking to supporters in Fredericksburg last night, Vindman credited his success to his campaign’s ground game and promised to defend reproductive rights in Congress. 

“I will stand in the way of extreme politicians who want to strip away basic health care rights from women here in the Commonwealth,” Vindman said. “I refuse to live in a world where my daughter has less rights than her mother.” 

And despite Republican fear-mongering about electronic vote counting machines and noncitizen voters, the state Department of Elections reported no significant issues. 

Virginia Commissioner of Elections Susan Beals last night thanked the thousands of poll workers across the state who made Virginia’s successful Election Day possible. 

“We had a very smooth election in Virginia today thanks to the experience of our election officials,” Beals said last night.