With a divided Legislature, a Republican governor who has all but staked his national ambitions on his ability to help the GOP control both chambers and, of course, abortion policy, Virginia’s dozens of legislative primaries Tuesday in the nit were always bound to offer clues about the political direction of the state.
They sure did, and then some.
The off-year summer races also provided a glimpse of how loyalty to former President Donald Trump appears to be a weakness in many parts of the country.
All of this will matter in the state, only one of two in the US this year that has a divided legislature (the other is Pennsylvania), where Republicans, who narrowly control the House of Delegates, and Democrats, who have a very tight control. the state Senate, both compete for control of the capital.
All seats in both chambers are up for grabs in November, and since this is the first cycle to feature the state’s redrawn legislative maps, Tuesday saw a series of competitive primaries pitting veteran lawmakers from the same party against each other between them.
Here are four takeaways from Virginia’s primary election results:
Abortion rights remain a differentiator
Just four days before the one-year anniversary of the US Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, Tuesday’s election in Virginia featured several races in which the abortion rights debate took center stage.
In a Democratic primary for a Richmond state Senate seat, former Del. Lashrecse Aird, who made her pro-abortion stance the centerpiece of her campaign, defeated current Sen. Joe Morrissey, a Democrat who opposed abortion rights, according to the Associated Press.
Morrissey had suggested he might support a 15-week abortion ban that Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin had proposed during the 2023 legislative session. (Democrats in the Senate had blocked it from moving forward.)
Aird’s victory is another example, in a long and growing list, of how Democrats have been able to use their support for abortion rights as an incredibly effective tool to attract and repel voters. Just months earlier, Democrat Aaron Rouse won a special election for a Virginia state Senate seat in a race that was widely seen as an anti-abortion power struggle.
The issue, however, is especially poignant given that Virginia is the only state in the deep South that, in the year since federal abortion rights were repealed, has not reduced access to attention to abortion.
Democratic internal struggles
In other races where Democrats squared off against each other, some candidates with similar records were forced to split hairs to differentiate themselves, often by focusing on local issues.
In a heated race between state Sen. Louise Lucas, who also serves as speaker pro tempore of the chamber, and fellow state Sen. Lionel Spruill, the two Democrats running for a Portsmouth-area seat, both candidates hammered each other. questions such as transportation, highways, and state-funded college student aid. Lucas won the race, according to the AP.
‘Trump in heels’ loses
Meanwhile, Republican state Sen. Amanda Chase, who represents a district not far from Richmond, lost to a conservative Republican challenger, former state Sen. Glen Sturtevant, according to the AP, further showing the enduring political challenges that Trump’s acolytes continue. to face.
Chase, who dubbed himself “Trump in heels,” attended the Jan. 6, 2021, rally in Washington, DC that preceded the storming of the US Capitol. Soon after, he began calling the rioters “patriots,” prompting a censure in 2021 from his state Senate colleagues.
His loss is notable because he has the abysmal record experienced by candidates denied election by Trump in the 2022 midterms.
Youngkin’s influence is significant
Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin delivers his State of the Commonwealth address on the House floor in Richmond, Va., on Jan. 11. John C. Clark / AP file
Youngkin, who hasn’t completely ruled out a 2024 presidential bid, ultimately endorsed 66 candidates in legislative primaries (46 House candidates and 20 state Senate candidates). However, only a small handful of races in which he was inserted formed to be close primaries. But candidates in a pair of expectedly close races that he endorsed prevailed, suggesting his political brand remains strong in the state.
In a state Senate primary for an open seat in the Fredericksburg area between Del. Tara Durant and Matt Strickland, Durant, supported by Youngkin, prevailed, according to the AP. And in another state Senate primary for a seat in the Hampton Roads, Del. area. Emily Brewer, who also had Youngkin’s support, defeated Hermie Sadler, according to the AP.
The general elections in those two districts are expected to be close and could be the difference in Republicans’ attempts to regain control of the state Senate, a goal Youngkin has prioritized for the coming months ahead of a possible presidential candidacy
