Next year’s presidential election is already drawing a lot of attention, but there are more immediate political contests in Virginia, where the balance of power in the General Assembly will soon be at stake.
Next year’s presidential election is already drawing a lot of attention, but there are more immediate political contests in Virginia, where the balance of power in the General Assembly will soon be at stake.
Tuesday’s primaries will provide an indication of which way Democratic and Republican voters are leaning as they prepare to elect the 140 members of the General Assembly in November.
Virginia will receive inordinate attention this year as a possible political claim, as it is one of the few States with legislative elections in 2023.
And while cable TV and talk radio are dominated by discussion of national political trends, they start at the state level.
In recent years, a growing number of state legislatures have become supermajorities, where they wield enormous power because even the governor of an opposing party cannot veto legislation.
More than half of the states, 28, now have supermajorities. Nineteen are controlled by Republicans, while nine are controlled by Democrats.
Maryland is one of the states where Democrats control both houses of the General Assembly, as well as the governor’s office. In Virginia, Republicans control the governor’s office and the House of Delegates, while Democrats hold a slim majority in the state senate.
Democrats in the upper house have succeeded in rolling back some of Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s legislative priorities, and Republicans are working hard to gain full control of the General Assembly.
Republican governors in many states with supermajorities have been able to enact radical legislative agendas.
In Florida, for example, Governor Ron DeSantis earlier this year signed a law banning abortion after six weeks of pregnancy. DeSantis has noted a number of other legislative victories as he begins his campaign for the GOP presidential nomination.
Legislation tightening abortion restrictions has passed in several other states where Republicans control the legislature.
In Virginia, Youngkin has tried to get lawmakers to pass his $1 billion tax cut plan, but Democrats have balked.
Virginia lawmakers have yet to pass a budget for this year. Some lawmakers have suggested efforts to pass a budget could pick up after Tuesday’s primary.
As Youngkin has become increasingly involved in national Republican politics, Virginia’s primary and election in the fall will come under heavy scrutiny. Youngkin was, at one point, mentioned as a possible presidential candidate, but he indicated that last month is focusing on GOP efforts to flip the state Senateat least for now.
Republicans haven’t controlled both chambers of the General Assembly and the governor’s office in a decade. This last happened in 2012 and 2013, when Bob McDonnell was governor.
GOP operatives and Democrats will be watching closely what happens in Virginia as they try to figure out what could be a very unpredictable political landscape for 2024.
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