More on the Virginia Story

Good Washington Post article discussing the shifts in Virginia, with some quotes from yours truly.

"A GOP candidate hasn’t won statewide office in Virginia since 2009. On Tuesday, Democrats gained majorities in both houses of the General Assembly for the first time in a generation; the House of Delegates swung from a 66-34 Republican edge in 2017 to a 55-45 Democratic advantage for next year’s session.

In presidential elections, Virginia has moved so swiftly to the left in recent contests that it barely paused to be a swing state.

“This is the nightmare scenario for a lot of people in the Republican Party,” said Ruy Teixeira, a demographer at the liberal Center for American Progress. “Virginia is an example of a possible future for some of the states that are now part of the Republican coalition.”

Virginia now stands as a fearful avatar for Republicans of what the nation’s unrelenting demographic and cultural changes mean for the party, as the moderate-to-liberal urban and suburban areas grow and more conservative rural areas lose ground. Similar shifts are starting to hit such states as North Carolina, Arizona, Georgia and Texas, as minority populations increase and white college-educated voters continue to turn away from the Republican brand."

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WASHINGTONPOST.COM

In Virginia, Republicans confront a fearful electoral future

Virginia’s growth has pulled it to the left, a metamorphosis that is extending to other states that have been part of the Republican coalition.