{"id":8965,"date":"2024-12-25T15:45:44","date_gmt":"2024-12-25T07:45:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/?p=8965"},"modified":"2024-12-25T15:45:48","modified_gmt":"2024-12-25T07:45:48","slug":"virginia-democrats-see-next-months-special-elections-as-first-major-test-of-2025","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/?p=8965","title":{"rendered":"Virginia Democrats see next month\u2019s special elections as first major test of 2025"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Democrats are gearing up for two northern Virginia-area special elections in the state Senate and House of Delegates next month that could set the tone for what is expected to be a consequential election year in the commonwealth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The special elections in state Senate District 32 and House District 26, both located in Loudoun County, are slated for Jan. 7. Both seats are considered safe for Democrats, but the party points out that if it was to lose both races it would tie the House of Delegates and essentially deprive Democrats of control of the Senate with Lt. Gov. Winsome Sears (R) playing the tiebreaker, negatively impacting their performance in the next legislative session.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The elections come amid warning signs that Democratic support in the region appeared to slip in last month\u2019s general election, something that Democrats hope to improve on ahead of next year\u2019s gubernatorial and House of Delegates races.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt would be a shocker if these races were even close. These are seats that the Democrats should win by 20 points or more,\u201d said Bob Holsworth, a veteran Virginia political analyst.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But Vice President Harris\u2019s performance in Loudoun County in the presidential election was reflective of the ground she lost in other blue areas of the country against President-elect Trump. President Biden won the county by 26 points in 2020 while Harris won it by 16 points. Former Gov. Terry McAuliffe (D) won the county by 11 points in his unsuccessful second bid for governor against Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) in 2021, which saw lower turnout in a nonpresidential year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While the two races have been described as shoo-ins for Democrats, the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee has telegraphed that the party is taking the contests seriously.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Earlier this month, the committee named state Senate candidate Del. Kannan Srinivasan (D) and House of Delegates candidate JJ Singh to its \u201cspotlight\u201d program in which the committee will support the two candidates with fundraising and organizing. Additionally, the committee announced it was investing $100,000 into Virginia\u2019s legislative caucuses ahead of next month\u2019s special elections.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Virginia Democrats say the races are essential to fortifying the Democratic firewall in state legislatures across the country in response to the federal Republican trifecta in Washington.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI think there\u2019s a lot of anxiety and agita about what\u2019s going to happen with the so-called trifecta,\u201d Singh said, referring to issues like cutting down the federal workforce and abortion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a risk that that mindset, that level of politics, that style will infiltrate itself here in Virginia and that\u2019s what Republicans in Virginia want to do. So it\u2019s up to us in the House and Senate to protect our values,\u201d he continued, referring to Virginia\u2019s General Assembly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Srinivasan noted that he was still running on state and local issues despite the political environment in nearby Washington.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cUltimately the state issues are extremely important,\u201d he said, noting his focus on the economy, gun safety, abortion and Medicaid expansion. \u201cThere are many things we can do in the state that we improve on and we can touch people\u2019s lives.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Republicans argue Democrats are ginning up excitement about two races they say won\u2019t have any bearing on the general off-year elections in the state next year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDemocrats have this habit of trying to turn these random special elections that they\u2019re heavily favored in into referendums on what\u2019s going to happen,\u201d said Max Docksey, political director at the Republican State Leadership Committee. \u201cWhat they\u2019re really trying to do is recover from the horrible election night they had and they\u2019re going to try to utilize these D plus 21, D plus 22 seats just to do that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think this should be viewed as a sign of what is to come,\u201d he added. \u201cWe haven\u2019t had enough time to see what the Republican legislatures, which we expanded across the country, are going to be able to do with the newfound power we\u2019ve gained. We haven\u2019t seen what President Trump is going to be able to do. What a trifecta control of the federal government is going to be able to do for Republicans.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And the Jan. 7 special elections will be drastically different from the presidential election in terms of turnout and enthusiasm despite the frequency of elections in Virginia. This election in particular appears to be prime for low turnout given it\u2019s taking place after the holidays and two months after a blockbuster presidential election.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Next November\u2019s elections in Virginia at the gubernatorial and House levels will also see lower turnout compared to presidential years. The primaries haven\u2019t taken place, but Sears and Rep. Abigail Spanberger (D-Va.) are the likely nominees for their respective parties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Democrats will need to make sure they are driving up turnout in areas like Loudoun County in an effort to offset potential Republican enthusiasm in red enclaves of the state. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201c[Democrats] don\u2019t want to see a further reduction in their advantage in Loudoun because Democrats are not enthusiastic about turning out,\u201d Holsworth said. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Democrats are gearing up for two northern Virginia-area special elections in the state Senate and House of Delegates next month that could set the tone for what is expected to be a consequential election year in the commonwealth. The special elections in state Senate District 32 and House District 26, both located in Loudoun County, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":8968,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[2078,2659,2513],"class_list":["post-8965","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-international","tag-democrats","tag-see","tag-virginia"],"yoast_head":"\nVirginia Democrats see next month\u2019s special elections as first major test of 2025 - LISTEN WORLD<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/?p=8965\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Virginia Democrats see next month\u2019s special elections as first major test of 2025 - LISTEN WORLD\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Democrats are gearing up for two northern Virginia-area special elections in the state Senate and House of Delegates next month that could set the tone for what is expected to be a consequential election year in the commonwealth. 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