Virginia Democrats hold Senate majority, ending GOP hopes to win full control of state government
Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin says he wants voters to extend Republicans’ “license to lead” as the legislative campaign cycle comes to a close.
RICHMOND, Va. — Virginia Democrats held their majority in the state Senate on Tuesday, but control of the House of Delegates remained unsettled late into the evening, with vote counting still underway in key races.
The Democrats’ victory in the upper chamber ended the prospect of a Republican trifecta that would have allowed Gov. Glenn Youngkin to swiftly move on conservative policy priorities — including a proposed 15-week abortion ban — that Senate Democrats have been able to stymie in his first two years in office. The chamber has been under Democratic control since 2020, and the party’s candidates ran campaigns this year emphasizing a pledge to protect abortion rights.
“It’s official: there will be absolutely no abortion ban legislation sent to Glenn Youngkin’s desk for the duration of his term in office, period, as we have thwarted MAGA Republicans’ attempt to take total control of our government and our bodies,” Virginia Senate Democratic Caucus Chair Mamie Locke said in a statement referencing Donald Trump’s “Make America Great Again” slogan.
Every General Assembly seat was on the ballot in this year’s hard-fought election cycle.
Virginia is one of just four states holding legislative races this year, and it’s something of a microcosm of other closely divided states that will be critical in next year’s presidential election. That fueled outsized interest in the legislative races, as both parties closely monitored the results for signs about voter moods heading into the 2024 campaign.
Candidates made their case to voters this cycle on the economy, the environment, public safety and schools, but no issue was more hotly contested than abortion in the last state in the South without new restrictions since the end of Roe v. Wade.
The results could comfort the national party as President Joe Biden and other Democrats are expected to prioritize abortion rights in next year’s campaign to energize their voters.
“I think voters are without question rejecting Republicans and the idea of an abortion ban. The issue was definitely motivating,” said Heather Williams, interim president of the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee.
Republicans centered their messages around issues like lowering taxes, supporting parental involvement in schools, rolling back Democrat-sponsored clean energy mandates and improving public safety. On abortion, many GOP candidates in the most competitive swing districts coalesced around Youngkin’s proposed 15-week abortion ban with exceptions for rape, incest and the life of the mother.
Youngkin, who predicted hours before the polls closed that Republicans would hold the House and flip the Senate, was asked how he would work with Democrats if his party fell short.
“I think there’s always a place for common sense, and we’ve been able to get things done” during the past two years of divided government, Youngkin said, before pivoting to a criticism of Democrats as lacking a vision for the future and being “the party of fear.”
The full slate of candidates ran for the first time this year under new maps created during the latest redistricting process. Flipping the Senate had been seen by most strategists in both parties as a tougher climb for Republicans than holding the House.