Virginians won last night. They won the right to make choices for their own bodies. They won the right to maintain the distinct pride that comes from not living in Florida. Best of all, they told Glenn Youngkin that he’s never gonna be president.
Youngkin led the best-funded Republican legislative campaign in the commonwealth’s history. According to Semafor, he helped raise at least $34 million for candidates, and even more was spent through PACs — all dedicated to a single objective, the conquest of the Virginia Senate. This would provide Youngkin with a Republican trifecta so he could impose his far-right agenda. This included a 15-week abortion ban that no one wanted.
Youngkin was everywhere in his Marty McFly cosplay getup selling this crap. He delivered this Election Day message on Fox News: “We have been completely straightforward and clear. I will back a bill to ban abortion.”
The wonderful L. Louise Lucas, Senate president, didn’t hold back when describing the stakes: “You heard him. Vote today or he will have his hands on every poonanny in Virginia.”
Well, Youngkin will have to keep his grimy hands off Virginians’ poonannies. Democrats held the Senate and while they were at it, they flipped the whole goddamn House of Delegates! You can’t be too careful about your poonanny.
The initial early vote was a little discouraging for Democrats, but the Election Day vote was explosive, especially among the much-maligned youth vote. Virginia has same-day voter registration, because that’s what Democrats do when they have a trifecta — they expand rights, not restrict them. It was glorious watching the videos Tuesday of young people lined up around the block to vote, to send a clear message to the governor’s mansion.
Republicans needed to flip just two Senate seats, in an off-year election, to gain control of the chamber. Democrats had a narrow 22-18 majority, and an even split would’ve made wackadoodle MAGA Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears the tie-breaking vote.
But despite their money and 2021-era recycled lies about Democrats, Republicans couldn’t pull it off. Let’s savor their failure together, shall we?
Democrat Schuyler VanValkenburg, a state delegate since 2018, defeated Republican incumbent Siobhan Dunnavant in Virginia’s state Senate District 16. Youngkin’s Spirit of Virginia PAC spent more than $1.28 million attempting to hold Dunnavant’s seat. That’s already in the opposite direction from the trifecta.
Democrat Russet Perry defeated billionaire transplant Juan Pablo Segura in Senate District 31 — a Biden district that Youngkin carried in 2021. Those two wins guaranteed a Democratic Senate majority. Perry campaigned hard on abortion rights.
“It’s not just us here. It’s the entire South,” she told her supporters last month. “We know what happens if we lose: It’s going to be long and enduring and painful. But we have the ability to hold the line right down there on the Virginia border right here with this seat today.”
Shortly before midnight Virginia time as I wrote this, there were still some races yet to call but it was more a matter of determining just how big the Democrats’ Senate majority would be.
Oh, and Danica Roem, a trans woman and current member of the House of Delegates, will move on up to the Senate, making history as she does. She defeated former Fairfax County police detective Bill Woolf, an absolute jerk who of course Youngkin endorsed. Woolf campaigned on banning trans youth from competing on school sports teams. Roem put up with hecklers at her town halls shouting transphobic slurs at her, but she prevailed.
Republicans had a 48 to 46 majority in the House of Delegates, and when Michael Feggans flipped House District 97 in Virginia Beach, the count was at 51 (D) to 46 (R) with three races too close to call. Don Scott will become the first Black Speaker of the House of Delegates, alongside Lucas in the Senate, who’s also Black and awesome.
It’s been a long night, and we’ll keep you updated on any new developments. For now, though, let’s take a moment to celebrate what Democrats accomplished. Glenn Youngkin was not in fact the herald for a grand new Republican Age in Virginia. He was a fluke, and I shall enjoy watching him plummet to earth after flying too close to the political sun.
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I don't know about the rest of you fine folks, but I really needed these wins. My little liberal heart was getting heavy with relatively doomy and gloomy news as of late.
Youngkin benefited from running in a year when a lot of parents were still pissed over COVID-related school closures--Dems were seen as kowtowing to teachers unions and not giving enough of a crap about the difficulty of keeping kids at home during school days. Youngkin also benefited from having the appearance of a "normal" (non-MAGA) Republican, at a time (right after J6) when that appeared moderate by comparison.
Two years later, Dobbs is on everyone's mind, Youngkin threw his lot in with the Right, and the issue of school closures is moot, so Virginia is back to being a blue state.