Red Wave Coming? GOP Sweeps Election in Virginia Democratic Stronghold

quote:

---

With the November general election less than six months away, results of local and special elections are giving an eye-opening preview of possible voter behavior. While recent polls still show Democratic hopefuls, including presumed presidential nominee Joe Biden, edging out their Republican counterparts in competitive parts of the country, actual ballots are telling a very different story.

Special congressional elections in California and Wisconsin this month both yielded Republican victors after Democrats launched strong campaigns in both races. In California, Republican Mike Garcia beat Democrat Christy Smith by almost 10 points after receiving 10,000 fewer votes in the primary election just two months earlier. Garcia replaced Democrat Katie Hill, who resigned at the end of 2019, flipping a California House seat from blue to red for the first time in more than 20 years.

As stunning as Garcia's resounding victory for Republicans in California was, however, a shocking GOP blowout in the Staunton, Virginia city council election this week has given Democrats a reason to be alarmed.

---

quote:

---

Following the 2019 'Blue Wave' in Virginia legislature elections, however, residents of Staunton, which is supported in large part by private liberal arts college Mary Baldwin, came out in droves to support Republicans this week. Three Democratic council members lost to their Republican challengers in an unprecedented sweep by the GOP with a voter turn out that smashed previous election cycles.

More than 17,000 votes were cast in the in the election in which all four council members were vying to protect their seats. The last Staunton election for all four members was in 2016 in which fewer than 7,000 votes were cast. One Virginia political analyst, Chris Graham, of the Augusta Free Press described the results as "stunning almost beyond words."

---

quote:

---

Election analysts and representatives of the August County Republican Committee agree that the unpopular gun legislation and Northam's response to COVID-19 factored into the GOP shellacking in Staunton this week.

"I’m rarely shocked by something that happens in politics, but I have to admit, I didn’t see this one happening," Graham said in a post-election analysis.

---

quote:

---

"This turning point for the city shows that the citizens want a change in their government," Austin Armentrout of the ACRC told Townhall. "Many people are getting involved in politics and making their voices heard around our country, and it is resulting in Republican victories. The Staunton City Council Election was one of many in the Commonwealth of Virginia that show a growing momentum for Republican candidates that will carry through into November when President Donald Trump and Congressman Ben Cline [R-VA 06] are re-elected."

With Republican victories in California and Virginia already on the books for 2020, Democratic Party operatives will be forced to look at how to reach voters clearly frustrated with state lockdowns that are almost entirely perpetuated by Democratic governors. Likewise, Democratic congressional candidates and incumbents must stand behind their actions during the last two years in which they pushed an unfounded impeachment of the president and blocked attempts to help Americans during the pandemic.

---