Democrat Terry McAuliffe has broken a streak of nine straight elections in which the party occupying the White House lost the Virginia governor’s race. McAuliffe squeaked past Republican Ken Cuccinelli by less than 3 percent of the vote, a much lower showing than most polls had predicted going into yesterday’s election.
Republican Lieutenant Governor Bill Bolling – who dropped his bid for governor when the state GOP opted for a closed convention that nominated Cuccinelli – said he was disappointed that the party had lost the two top statewide offices. And Bolling, considered a moderate, noted there are clear lessons to be learned by Virginia Republicans. He said the state GOP needs to “reconnect with a more diverse voter base whose support is critical to political success in Virginia.”
In the other two top statewide races:
Democrat Ralph Northam defeated Republican E.W.Jackson in the Lieutenant Governor’s race taking 55 percent of the vote.
The state attorney general’s race between Democrat Mark Herring and Republican Mark Obenshain is still too close to call. Herring holds a razor thin lead of 541 votes out of nearly two-point-two-million cast in yesterday’s election. (Three 3 precincts have yet to be counted in that race.)
Republicans retained their commanding lead in the Virginia House of Delegates.