It’s been a good night for the Democrats. There is no joy in Virginia right now, because two things have happened: 1. the Democrats still solidly have control of the State Senate and 2. Glenn Youngkin’s anticipated meteoric rise as the new star of the GOP, just went splutter, kerplunk and is now off the launch pad and is in the weeds, fizzling. So much for that terrific abortion bill he was on the verge of shoving down everybody’s throat. Not surprisingly, abortion is the one glaring issue, although by no means the only one, where the Republicans are utterly out of touch with the desires of the country. Washington Post:
Democrats were within striking distance of flipping the House of Delegates blue, as well, [NOTE: the State House was flipped blue as well, since publication of this piece] which would amount to a sharp setback for Youngkin as he seeks to raise his national profile as a potential last-minute presidential contender. But several races were too close to call Tuesday evening and Republicans still had a path to keeping their narrow majority in the House.
The early results, if they held, seemed to fit with a national trend that saw Democrats rally around the issue of protecting abortion rights. In Ohio, a measure to build abortion access protections into the state constitution was projected to pass Tuesday, and Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear won re-election after hammering his Republican opponent for supporting the state’s total ban on abortions.
The unclear results came on a night when Democrats rallied around the issue of protecting abortion rights in other states. In Ohio, voters decisively approved a measure to build abortion access protections into the state constitution, and Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear won reelection after hammering his Republican opponent for supporting the state’s near-total ban on abortions.
Andy Beshear is another success story. The opponent he defeated was handpicked by Mitch McConnell but once again — and how many more times the Republicans need to lose is the only question now — the abortion issue is what toppled the Republican. A compelling ad was done in Kentucky by a woman who was the victim of rape and who told the chilling story of being a rape survivor, as a child, and how a 9-year-old should not be compelled to give birth.
The GOP is insanely out of touch with what the normal Mom and Pop kitchen table issues are and that’s why they keep on losing. That, and the fact that they have a lunatic at the top of their ticket, at least until he’s not anymore, and that is Donald Trump. But somehow abortion, MAGA, Trump and now evangelical lunacy, are supposed to be what John Q. Public is suddenly dying for.
Wrong.
The only win tonight was in Mississippi where the GOP governor maintained his seat over the Democratic challenger, Brandon Presley, and that was basically anticipated, so no big surprise.
Again, the big news story is in Virginia. This was touted on right-wing media as the great night when conservatism would solidify in the Old Dominion and Glenn Youngkin would take torch in hand and lead the way forward for the GOP. Did not happen. Sorry, Glenn. Better luck next time.
“Kerplunk” like a Big Massive Dump. ✅️
One of the problems with the GOP is that they believe right-wing media. Then another election happens and the truth dawns. Over and over again.
…a corrupted version of Bill Murray’s “Groundhog Day”, with overtones of the classic definition of insanity – Gotta love it!
I’ve said multiple times Youngkin wasn’t going anywhere. Except back home and into obscurity after his four years as Gov. were done. (In Virginia Governor’s can’t run for re-election – they have to wait at least four years if they want a second term and no one’s ever accomplished the feat) It was a fluke he got elected at all. It was like a poker player drawing an inside straight to a royal flush. And anyone who thought Youngkin would make a national candidate was always kidding themselves. You think DeSantis’ crash & burn once he got outside FL was a spectacle? Youngkin’s would have been spectacularly worse.
As someone who lived in Virginia almost twenty years I sure as hell hope that Democrats come up with a good, solid candidate for Gov. next go-round. It was never a blue state. Only purple with signs of light blue starting to show. It COULD become a light blue state but it will take a while to make it that way. For the moment we should be grateful that last night’s results show it hasn’t turned light red.
Finally, as for Youngkin I gather than presser he was reportedly planning today isn’t going to happen after all. Like Musk and his starship he “launched” his Presidential campaign before it was ready, and the whole thing went haywire and blew up!
Minor correction, denis. Since the Virginia Constitution formalized the non-consecutive terms in 1830, there have been two governors who’ve managed to win a second term. (Note: Before 1830, the governor served a ONE-year term, with a maximum of three consecutive terms, but then had to remain out of office for four years. In 1830, the term was changed to a single three-year term and in 1851, it was changed to a four-year term.)
The first governor, William Smith, actually served a three-year term in the late 1840s, and was elected again in 1863 to a four-year term but, as he was elected as the Confederate Governor, he was removed from office in 1865. Then in 1965, Democrat Mills Godwin was elected to a four-year term and was replaced by Linwood Holton, the first GOPer since Reconstruction to be Governor; Holton was then replaced by Godwin, who’d changed parties and was elected as a GOPer in 1973.