Virginia Democrats celebrate blue 'tsunami'

RICHMOND, Va. (CN) — Democrats in Virginia awoke Wednesday to a sweep of statewide offices and a blue wave in the state Legislature.

“Virginia chose pragmatism over partisanship,” Democratic Governor-elect Abigail Spanberger said at a watch party Tuesday night. “We chose our commonwealth over chaos.”

Virginia elected its first female governor; its first Muslim-American statewide candidate in Lieutenant Governor-elect Ghazala Hashmi; and Jay Jones as its first Black attorney general. Democrats also increased their majority in the House of Delegates, flipping 13 seats to give them a 64-to-36 advantage. The Democrats now hold a trifecta until at least 2027.

Outgoing Governor Glenn Youngkin, a Republican, blamed the ongoing federal government shutdown for his party’s subpar performance. Virginia is home to more than 320,000 federal employees. Youngkin has vocally supported cuts to the federal workforce through the so-called Department of Government Efficiency.

“I do think that the government shutdown is a big challenge,” Youngkin said at a news conference Wednesday. “People are going without paychecks. They’re worried about mortgages and rents. They’re worried about how they’re going to feed their families. The challenge of this government shutdown is real, and I am incredibly understanding of that challenge for all Virginians.”

Speaker of the House of Delegates Don Scott called the election a tsunami for House Democrats, who picked up five districts that went for President Donald Trump in 2024 and obtained their largest majority since 1987.

“Virginia Republicans were too terrified to stand up to Donald Trump,” Scott said at a news conference Wednesday. “Voters saw them running away, cowering in the face of Donald Trump’s destruction of Virginia’s jobs.”

Scott criticized Republicans for focusing their campaigns on cultural issues, such as transgender policies for schools, over pocketbook issues.

“They believe that we really want to address affordability,” Scott said of voters, before criticizing Republicans. “They didn’t talk about real issues that people were feeling.”

Scott called the election a mandate from the voters but said his party would proceed with discipline rather than aggression in passing progressive laws.

“The word of the day now is restraint,” Scott said. “We have to be wise with the gift that the voters have given us.”

Spanberger, a CIA employee-turned-congresswoman, defeated Republican Lieutenant Governor Winsome Earle-Sears, a business owner and former U.S. Marine, winning 57% of the vote to Earle-Sears’ 42%, according to preliminary data from the Virginia Department of Elections. Over 3.3 million people voted in the gubernatorial election.

Democratic State Senator Hashmi defeated Republican journalist-turned-political commentator John Reid for lieutenant governor by over 350,000 votes.

“Virginia, we have pointed our compass in a direction that guides us to the future,” Hashmi, who is also Virginia’s first Asian American to hold statewide office, said Tuesday night.

Jones bested Republican incumbent Attorney General Jason Miyares, garnering 53% of the vote to Miyares’ 47%. Jones, an assistant attorney general under Democratic Attorney General Mark Herring, beat Miyares despite a significant fundraising disadvantage and a scandal that made national news. The National Review leaked text messages from 2022 between Jones and a Republican state lawmaker colleague, in which the 36-year-old threatened violence against Todd Gilbert, then Republican speaker of the House of Delegates, and his family.

Jones focused his campaign on using his authority to sue Trump. Miyares, a Trump-endorsed candidate, has declined to join states like Maryland in multistate litigation against administration actions affecting Virginia, like mass federal employee layoffs.

Democrats held a trifecta from 2020 to 2021, when Democratic Governor Ralph Northam signed sweeping progressive policies into law, including gun control and criminal justice reform legislation, as well as the decriminalization of cannabis.

Democrats can now move forward with constitutional amendments that would create a right to abortion care, automatically restore voting rights, remove an antiquated law banning same-sex marriage and allow for mid-decade redistricting. Amendments require passage in two consecutive years before they ultimately go to voters.

Youngkin will hand the keys to the governor’s mansion to Spanberger on Jan. 17. Spanberger, one of the country’s most bipartisan lawmakers during her stint in Congress, preached unity during her acceptance speech.

“I believe in this idea that there is so much more that unites us, as Virginians, as Americans, than divides us,” Spanberger said. “We are built on the things we share, not the things that pull us apart."

Scott said the result will act as a playbook for Democrats across the nation in future elections. Among the incoming class of delegates for the part-time Legislature are veterans, teachers, social workers and a pediatrician.

“We couldn’t have got a majority this big if Republicans didn’t vote for Democrats last night,” Scott said. “I think this tsunami is going to continue to happen until Republicans join us in this whole governance thing. Until Republicans decide to stand up to Donald Trump and to MAGA extremism, this will continue to happen.”