Ralph Northam rebuffs Trumpism in Virginia gubernatorial win
Jon Ward
Senior Political Correspondent
ARLINGTON, VA — Democrats across the country are breathing a sigh of relief after Ralph Northam was elected Virginia’s next governor Tuesday night.
Northam, a Democrat and the state’s current lieutenant governor, was declared the winner over Republican Ed Gillespie by the Associated Press nearly an hour after polls closed in the state.
Northam’s win is a particular relief for Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va, who is being challenged by a Trump-style Republican named Corey Stewart next year. It shows that anti-Trump sentiment is a powerful factor for voters. Trump never campaigned in Virginia for Gillespie but endorsed him and attacked Northam on Twitter Tuesday morning, saying Northam would be “weak on crime” and that under a Gillespie governorship “crime will be gone.”
However, Northam’s victory also demonstrates that figures like Stewart, easily dismissed as irrelevant just a few years ago before the rise of Trumpism, can no longer be ignored. Kaine, who is one of many Democrats often discussed as a potential presidential candidate in 2020, will have to be on his game to avoid an upset loss to Stewart.
Jon Ward
Senior Political Correspondent
ARLINGTON, VA — Democrats across the country are breathing a sigh of relief after Ralph Northam was elected Virginia’s next governor Tuesday night.
Northam, a Democrat and the state’s current lieutenant governor, was declared the winner over Republican Ed Gillespie by the Associated Press nearly an hour after polls closed in the state.
Northam’s win is a particular relief for Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va, who is being challenged by a Trump-style Republican named Corey Stewart next year. It shows that anti-Trump sentiment is a powerful factor for voters. Trump never campaigned in Virginia for Gillespie but endorsed him and attacked Northam on Twitter Tuesday morning, saying Northam would be “weak on crime” and that under a Gillespie governorship “crime will be gone.”
However, Northam’s victory also demonstrates that figures like Stewart, easily dismissed as irrelevant just a few years ago before the rise of Trumpism, can no longer be ignored. Kaine, who is one of many Democrats often discussed as a potential presidential candidate in 2020, will have to be on his game to avoid an upset loss to Stewart.
