OPINION:
Virginia’s odd-year elections offer a reliable snapshot of the public mood going into national elections. Tuesday was no exception, as the commonwealth cemented its reputation as a purple state.
With provisional ballots still being counted, dozens of key races were decided by the slimmest of margins that appear to have handed Democrats control of the House of Delegates. Having also retained the Senate, the party will have a thin majority in the General Assembly.
The individual races tell a more nuanced tale. Retired businessman David L. Owen, for example, won an open House seat in District 57, northwest of Richmond, by under 3 points — far closer than the race should have been.
Mr. Owen, a Republican, was up against Susanna Gibson, who is best known for posting videos of sex acts with her husband on an adult website in return for viewers’ monetary tips. When her secret life was revealed in September, Mrs. Gibson lacked the decency to drop out of the race, insisting instead that disclosure of her sordid behavior was “the worst gutter politics” and an “invasion of privacy.”
Mrs. Gibson outspent Mr. Owen, a Republican, by nearly $300,000, according to the Virginia Public Access Project, for a race that ordinarily should have been a blowout given revelations of disqualifying conduct.
This suggests the ranks of “Yellow Dog Democrats” may be expanding in Virginia, but they aren’t the majority. The term dates to the late 1800s, when some rabidly partisan Southern Democrats vowed they would vote for a yellow dog before they’d ever vote for any Republican.
On the other hand, voters in Prince William County promoted three-term state Delegate Danica Roem, a Democrat, to the state Senate. The state’s first and only transgender lawmaker bested former police officer Bill Woolf, a Republican, by 51.5% to 48.2%, no doubt with the help of a torrent of campaign cash from deep-pocketed national LGBTQ groups. Mr. Woolf was outspent by about $575,000, according to the Virginia Public Access Project.
In neighboring Loudoun County, voters appear to have given the boot to Buta Biberaj, its commonwealth’s attorney and one of about 75 soft-on-crime Democratic prosecutors across the country whose campaigns were funded by far-left billionaire George Soros.
Ms. Biberaj trailed Republican challenger Bob Anderson, a former commonwealth’s attorney making a comeback after two decades, by 1,021 votes out of 132,649 tallied by Thursday morning.
Ms. Biberaj has yet to concede and may request a recount, but this is likely the end of the line for a prosecutor who has refused to prosecute many misdemeanors.
Tuesday’s outcome denies Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin the ability to enact his ambitious conservative agenda. At the same time, it’s Mr. Youngkin — and not liberal Democrat Terry McAuliffe — in the governor’s mansion. The Democrats’ far-left agenda is also going nowhere.
With Democrats in the White House, we have a dysfunctional economy, rampant crime and world affairs in disarray. Even so, Virginia voters opted for political stalemate. This means Republicans haven’t satisfied the voters that they offer a viable alternative. The national GOP has until next November to convince them otherwise.
