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Democrats take first big electoral win since Trump
Republican Gillepsie was defeated by Democrat Ralph Northam on Tuesday, making it the first major electoral defeat for the party since Donald Trump
Supporters of Ralph Northam begin to celebrate as results start to come in at Northam's election night rally on the campus of George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia, 7 November, 2017 (Photo: Reuters)
Democrat Ralph Northam defeated Republican Ed Gillepsie on Tuesday, to become Virginia’s next governor, making this the first major electoral defeat for the party since Donald Trump took office.
With 88% of precincts reporting, Northam had bested Republican Ed Gillespie by a margin of 53% to 46% to win the governship of Virginia, in a wave election that saw a Democratic landslide in the state.
The race was framed by Democrats, as a referendum on Trump, who tweeted repeatedly but did not appear on the campaign trail with Gillepsie.
Ralph Northam,who is running for Governor of Virginia,is fighting for the violent MS-13 killer gangs & sanctuary cities. Vote Ed Gillespie!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 6, 2017
Northam ran a television ad, in which he referred to the US president as a “narcissistic maniac” in the primary.
In contrast, while republicans ran ads focused on Trump associated issues such as Latino gangs and Confederate monuments, Gillespie stayed focused in campaign appearances on bread-and-butter issues such as economic development and taxes.
After Gillespie’s concession speech, Republican congressman Scott Taylor described the election as “a referendum on the administration” and said Trump’s “divisive rhetoric prompted and helped usher in a very high Democratic turnout in Virginia.”
A Democrat also notched a gubernatorial win in New Jersey, where Democrat Phil Murphy defeated Republican Kim Guadagno. The win wrested back control of the governor’s mansion after two terms of Gov Chris Christie, a Republican and Trump campaign surrogate.
While the contest between Murphy and Guadagno did not rouse the same level interest as the fight for Virginia, with Murphy regularly holding a comfortable lead in polls, his victory nevertheless sent a hopeful signal to the national party.
Echoes of national politics also reverberated through the race, with Guadagno criticising Murphy for supporting so-called “sanctuary cities” that resist cooperating with federal immigration enforcement - a favourite target for Trump.
