Henry David

Republicans, if conditions are right, can win a base election in Virginia as in 2009 and 2021. However, running a base election with a deeply unpopular Republican president in the WH is just political malpractice. No matter who was in power or the economy, John Warner knew how to build a coalition.

Age of 10 oldest Representatives on Election Day '26 who are running again:
Hal Rogers 88
Maxine Waters 88
Jim Clyburn 86
John Carter 85
Frederica Wilson 84
Rosa DeLauro 83
Virginia Foxx 83
Doris Matsui 82
Emanuel Cleaver 82
John Garamendi 81

7 of 10 oldest are Democrats.

Winsome Earle-Sears' 42.5% in Virginia is the lowest share of the vote for any Republican gubernatorial candidate in 60 years. Linwood Holton, Tim Kaine's father-in-law, received only 37.2% when he lost a three man race in 1965.

In 2019, Virginia Republicans in the House of Delegates were thrown out of power by voters under their own extreme gerrymander. They lost close to 1/3 of their caucus between 2017 and 2019. Absolutely brutal.

In 2021, McAuliffe carried vote rich Fairfax County by about 130k votes. Last night, Spanberger carried it by almost 210k. That's the type of swing one simply can't erase even with juiced rural turnout (which didn't materialize).

Even reliably red counties lurched to the left.
Pittsylvania
21 R+51
25 R+41

Roanoke
21 R+32
25 R+16

Rockingham
21 R+51
25 R+36

Caroline
21 R+15
25 tie

Goochland
21 R+32
25 R+14

Powhatan
21 R+54
25 R+39

Blue Virginia raced to the left last night.
Alexandria
21 D+51
25 D+66

Arlington
21 D+54
25 D+68

Fairfax
21 D+28
25 D+48

Loudoun
21 D+11
25 D+29

Prince William
21 D+15
25 D+34

Richmond
21 D+57
25 D+73

Norfolk
21 D+35
25 D+51

Henrico
21 D+18
25 D+38

Charlottesville
21 D+67
25 D+78

Spanberger's margin of victory is the biggest Democratic gubernatorial win in Virginia in 64 years!

When Democrats run on economic issues, the issues voters feel every day, every pay cycle, every trip to the supermarket...they win. We can not run on anti-Trump platforms and expect voters to entrust us with the levers of government.

It's now been 28 years since Virginians allowed a Republican to succeed a Republican into the Governor's mansion.

If Mike Johnson possessed instinctive political leadership, he would have kept the House in session and forced Mikie Sherrill to take tough vote after tough vote after tough vote. But alas, if you're in over your head all you really are is a song by The Fray.

There is no swath of voters who make choices based on WaPo endorsements in this time of extreme partisanship joined with economic uncertainty. Major get? Absolutely not. Noteworthy? Perhaps. Swaying votes? Not rooted in reality.

Obenshain really retreated into the backbenches after his loss.

The media allowed Trump to single handedly lower the bar for what is unacceptable behavior from a politician, only to clutch pearls when similar behavior is exhibited by a Democrat. Politico, among others, is systematically complicit.

There is now a convicted criminal serving on the New Hampshire Supreme Court. This story is getting lost in the national news, but sad and troubling nonetheless.

I expect the next Democratic president to bulldoze the ballroom and immediately rebuild the East Wing and the gardens. And yes, use my tax dollars.

Kentucky Republicans purposefully moved elections to presidential years to give them an advantage while New York Republicans purposefully sued to block a change to even years because too many people would vote.

There's an intentional strategy with the delay. The new D Rep-elect from AZ marks 218 signatures on the Epstein discharge petition. However, if Johnson can wait out NJ's gubernatorial election, he'll be back at 217 discharge votes as Sherrill, unlike Spanberger, chose not to retire from the House.

The Democratic Party has to stop prioritizing moral victories over tangible results.

Remember when some terminally online leftists swore that Harris and Trump administrations would be identical? We carry some heavy, burdensome but proud idiocy on the far left in this party.

And still, despite all this, some voters on the left will still say, "I can't vote for the Democratic nominee because *insert bullshit answer*" and the fascism will continue.

We got Roy in NC.
Now Sherrod in OH.
Waiting on Janet in ME.
#RoadTo50

But her emails...

But her emails...

Remember when some online progressives told us there would be no difference between a Trump and Harris administration?

Which makes 2028's presidential race and 2030's gubernatorial and state legislative races all incredibly important--as if they weren't already.

In 2008, rural voters were still willing to give Democrats a chance. This is no longer the case and makes VA-5 extremely challenging even in the most perfect of Blue storms.

They can't pass anything other than reconciliation or nominees with 60 votes. This safeguards us from the truly damaging, dismantling, and destructive legislation that is far more impactful and significant than what reconciliation can offer.

Before 2010, I supported eliminating the filibuster for legislation. But now, especially post-2016, there's no way in good conscience I could turn over a 51 vote bar on all legislation to men like Trump, Stephen Miller, and the Heritage Foundation.

Likewise, those who went so woke that progressive voters in blue cities and districts threw them out of office won't lead us to victory either.