After a nail-biting race to replace outgoing Governor Terry McAuliffe, Democratic candidate Ralph Northam has become the new Governor of Virginia. The election was widely seen as a test of the impact of Trump’s presidency.
With 59 percent of precincts reporting, Northam was projected the winner with 51.4 percent of the vote, compared to Republican Ed Gillespie’s 47.4 percent, according to the Associated Press.
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Many saw the race as a referendum on President Donald Trump’s administration, with Democrats looking to hold on to the only southern state that former secretary of state Hillary Clinton won during the 2016 presidential election.
Last year, Trump lost to Clinton in Virginia by a margin of 5.4 percent. In Tuesday’s gubernatorial race, Gillespie lost to Northam by a margin of about 6.1 percent, with 80 percent of precincts reporting.
Democrats hope the win will set the tone for the 2018 midterm congressional elections.
Polls conducted before the election showed Northam leading Gillespie by a wide margin. However, after indecisive remarks about “sanctuary cities,” his lead appeared to dwindle.
Last month, the Latino Victory Fund released an ad showing a white man chasing down minority children in a pickup truck with a Gillespie bumper sticker and a Confederate flag, prompting denunciations from Republicans.
Northam’s victory marks the first major win for Democrats since the 2016 presidential election.
Ed Gillespie worked hard but did not embrace me or what I stand for. Don’t forget, Republicans won 4 out of 4 House seats, and with the economy doing record numbers, we will continue to win, even bigger than before!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 8, 2017
After Northam was projected to win, Trump tweeted that Gillespie “did not embrace me or what I stand for.”
In state legislature elections, polls show Democrats are leading in at least a dozen “contested” elections for state house delegate seats currently held by Republicans, the majority party. Democrats could potentially take the majority of the seats in the house of delegates.
