Lee Carter is an openly socialist veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps, and on Tuesday night he defeated Republican House Majority Whip Jackson Miller by a comfortable ten-point margin:
The AP has called Democratic Socialist Lee Carter the winner over GOP Del. Jackson Miller in Manassas.
— Patrick Wilson (@patrickmwilson) November 8, 2017
In District 13, Danica Roem defeated a Republican incumbent and made history:
Danica Roem (D) has defeated Bob Marshall (R) in HD13. She will be America's first transgender state legislator.
— Dave Weigel (@daveweigel) November 8, 2017
Marshall had previously introduced a version of the discriminatory “bathroom bill,” which targeted trans Virginians. Dems have also flipped Districts 2, 10, 31, 32, 42, 51, 67, 72, and 73, which places them in striking distance of winning a majority in the House of Delegates:
VA HOUSE OF DELEGATES: Democrats have already picked up 11 seats (2, 10, 13, 31, 32, 42, 50, 51, 67, 72, 73) and need 6 more for control. There are ~13 more GOP seats still in play.
— Dave Wasserman (@Redistrict) November 8, 2017
Tonight has been filled with extraordinary results like this:
Snapshot of a rural VA district Dems lost by 24 points in 2015 -- Dem candidate will defeat incumbent by ~10 pic.twitter.com/MaWJJZB5J3
— Joshua Green (@JoshuaGreen) November 8, 2017
These are still early hours, but a few takeaways are clear. First, the Democratic Party should invest in state races. Second, Democratic campaigns can overcome Trumpian identity politics and economic populism. Third, the party’s national controversies don’t necessarily filter down to state politics (Donna Brazile did not cost anyone a seat tonight). Democrats will comfortably take the governor’s mansion and even if they don’t take the General Assembly, they’ve already outperformed expectations. Ralph Northam, who will be Virginia’s next governor, also outperformed Hillary Clinton’s November results, despite a number of last-minute fumbles.
And that means Republicans should worry. Trump is a depreciating brand in states like Virginia. Ed Gillespie’s race-baiting waltz with the far-right didn’t make him governor. It didn’t even help his party maintain its death grip on state legislature seats. It just didn’t work at all.