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With Virginia, Voters Give Democrats First Big Wins of the Trump Era
Ralph Northam: We Will Not Condone Hatred and Bigotry

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Virginia Rejects Your Hateful Politics, Mr. Trump

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The G.O.P. Should Be Scared by Virginia

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POLITICS
With Virginia, Voters Give Democrats First Big Wins of the Trump Era
By JONATHAN MARTIN and ALEXANDER BURNSNOV. 7, 2017
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POLITICS By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS 00:57

Ralph Northam: We Will Not Condone Hatred and Bigotry
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Ralph Northam: We Will Not Condone Hatred and Bigotry
Ralph S. Northam, a Democrat, delivered a victory speech after winning the Virginia
governors race by beating Ed Gillespie, the Republican candidate. By THE
ASSOCIATED PRESS. Photo by Gabriella Demczuk for The New York Times. Watch in Times
Video
Embed
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FAIRFAX, Va. Voters delivered their first forceful rebuke of President Trump and
his party on Tuesday night, with Democrats exploiting Mr. Trumps deep unpopularity
to capture the governorships in Virginia and New Jersey and make significant
inroads into suburban communities that once favored the Republican Party.

The Democratic Partys crowning success of the night came in Virginia, where Lt.
Gov. Ralph S. Northam, an understated physician and Army veteran, won a commanding
victory for governor, overcoming a racially charged campaign by his Republican
opponent and cementing Virginias transformation into a reliably Democratic state
largely immune to Trump-style appeals.

Mr. Northam was propelled to victory over Ed Gillespie, the Republican nominee, by
liberal and moderate voters who were eager to send a message to Mr. Trump in a
state that rejected him in 2016. Mr. Northam led Mr. Gillespie by nearly nine
percentage points with 99 percent of precincts reporting, the widest victory in
decades for a Democratic candidate for governor of Virginia.

His dominating performance offered a momentary catharsis for Democrats beyond the
states borders who have been hungry to find political success this year and
represented a stern warning to Republicans on the ballot next year about the peril
of embracing Mr. Trumps approach.

The campaign between a couple of low-key, establishment politicians was brought to

life when Mr. Gillespie injected a handful of wedge issues, from immigration to
Confederate iconography, into the race. But voters in Virginias affluent and
highly educated urban centers rejected those tactics, handing Mr. Northam enormous
margins in the states most vote-rich localities.

GRAPHIC
4 Maps Show How Democrats Won the Virginia Governor Race
Ralph S. Northam earned huge margins in metropolitan Virginia and the populous
Washington suburbs.

OPEN GRAPHIC
Addressing jubilant supporters in Northern Virginia, Mr. Northam aimed his remarks
squarely at Mr. Trump and Republicans echoing his politics.
Continue reading the main story
RELATED COVERAGE

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Virginia Rejects Your Hateful Politics, Mr. Trump NOV. 7, 2017

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The G.O.P. Should Be Scared by Virginia NOV. 7, 2017

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Virginia has told us to end the divisiveness, that we will not condone hatred and
bigotry and to end the politics that have torn this country apart, he said,
adding that in this state, Its going to take a doctor to heal our differences.

The Democrats electoral validation, though, took place well beyond the Virginia
governors race: They wrested the governorship of New Jersey away from Republicans,
swept two other statewide offices in Virginia, made gains in the Virginia State
Legislature, and won a contested mayoral race in New Hampshire.

In New Jersey, Philip D. Murphy, a former Goldman Sachs executive, won the
governorship, according to The Associated Press, by a vast margin that brought an
unceremonious end to Gov. Chris Christies tumultuous tenure.

In both Virginia and New Jersey, voters rebuffed a wave of provocative ads linking
immigration and crime, hinting at the limitations of hard-edge tactics in the sort
of affluent and heavily suburban states that are pivotal in next years midterm
elections.

Even though Republicans in the two states mirrored Mr. Trumps grievance-oriented
politics, they kept him at arms length: He became the first president not to
appear on behalf of candidates for governor in either state since 2001, when George
W. Bush shunned the trail after the Sept. 11 attacks.

Photo

Ralph Northam and his wife, Pam, at a polling station in Norfolk, Va., on Tuesday.
Credit Julia Rendleman/Reuters
Since then, four of the five governors Virginia has elected have been Democrats.
The party was also in contention late Tuesday to seize control of the state House
of Delegates, an unexpected show of strength that, along with Mr. Northams
victory, offered Democrats a stronger hand to block any Republican attempts at
gerrymandering after the next census.

Representative Scott Taylor, a Republican from Virginia Beach, said he considered

the Democratic sweep in Virginia a repudiation of the White House. He faulted Mr.
Trumps divisive rhetoric for propelling the party to defeat, and said he
believed traditionally Republican-leaning voters contributed to Mr. Northams
margin of victory.

I do believe that this is a referendum on this administration, Mr. Taylor said of

the elections. Democrats turned out tonight, but Im pretty sure there were some
Republicans who spoke loudly and clearly tonight as well.
Channeling the shock of Republicans across the state, Mr. Taylor voiced disbelief
at the partys rout down ballot. I know folks that lost tonight who were going
against candidates Id never even heard of, he said.

Mr. Trump was quick to fault Mr. Gillespie for keeping his distance, writing on
Twitter while traveling in South Korea that the Republican candidate did not
embrace me or what I stand for.

Mr. Gillespie made no mention of Mr. Trump in his concession speech, and alluded
only in passing to the explosive themes he wielded as a candidate. Ticking off
issues he campaigned on, Mr. Gillespie noted his supporters were worried about
safety for themselves and their families and their businesses.

Photo

Ed Gillespie addressed his supporters after losing to Mr. Northam in Richmond, Va.,
on Tuesday night. Credit Parker Michels-Boyce for The New York Times
Addressing supporters in a hotel ballroom, Mr. Gillespie tried to tack a courteous
finale on to a rough-and-tumble race, offering his assistance to Mr. Northam going
forward. I wish him nothing but the best success, Mr. Gillespie said.

Mr. Northams victory was a tonic to an anxious national party that has been
reeling since Mr. Trumps win last year and was demoralized by losses in special
House elections in Montana and Georgia.

A native of Virginias rural Eastern Shore, Mr. Northam, 58, was a perhaps an
unlikely vessel for the resistance-era Democratic Party. But the left overlooked
the two votes he cast for George W. Bush before he entered politics, and his rsum
he is a pediatric neurologist and Gulf War veteran proved far more appealing to
the states broad middle than Mr. Gillespies background as a corporate lobbyist.

The Democrats success here came as Mr. Gillespie, trailing in the polls, turned to
a scorched-earth campaign against Mr. Northam in the races final weeks. Mr.
Gillespie, a fixture of his partys establishment who had once warned against the
siren song of anti-immigrant politics, unleashed a multimillion-dollar onslaught
linking his rival to a gang with Central American ties and a convicted pedophile
who had his rights restored, while also assailing Mr. Northam for wanting to remove
Virginias Confederate statues.

The strategy appeared to help Mr. Gillespie narrow the gap in the wake of the
Charlottesville protests this summer, but it was not enough to overcome the anti-
Trump energy in an increasingly diverse state that has not elected a Republican to
statewide office since 2009.

Mr. Gillespie, a former Republican National Committee chairman, found it difficult

to balance appeals to the presidents unflagging supporters in rural Virginia while
simultaneously attempting to win over Mr. Trumps skeptics in the states
population centers. He often would not say the presidents name, referring instead
to the administration or last years Republican ticket.

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In his concession speech, Mr. Gillespie made no mention of Mr. Trump, and declined
to answer questions about the presidents criticism on Tuesday night.
Mr. Northam did not have to concern himself with any such political contortions
running in a state that has backed the Democratic nominee for president in the last
three elections, a striking reversal from an earlier day here when Virginia
Democrats had to distinguish themselves from their more liberal national party.

Indeed, support for Mr. Northam represented a vote for continuity. Gov. Terry
McAuliffe, a Democrat barred by state law from seeking re-election, is broadly
popular, as are the states two Democratic senators, Tim Kaine and Mark Warner. Mr.
McAuliffe, who was elected in 2013 during President Barack Obamas second term, was
the first person in 40 years to win a Virginia governors race who was in the same
party as the presidents.

In New Jersey, the Democratic ticket established a decisive advantage early in the
campaign season, and that lead never flagged. Mr. Murphy, a wealthy Democratic
donor who served as ambassador to Germany under Mr. Obama, ran on a message of
rejecting both Mr. Trump and Mr. Christie, who is a politically toxic figure in the
state.

National Republicans virtually ignored the race, viewing their nominee, Lt. Gov.
Kim Guadagno, as doomed by a deeply hostile political environment and her
association with Mr. Christie. In Utahs Third Congressional District, John Curtis,
the Republican nominee, emerged as the winner Tuesday night, according to The
Associated Press.

After blanketing Virginias airwaves before the primary with an ad in which he

savaged the president as a narcissistic maniac, Mr. Northam struck a more sober-
minded tone during the general election with another widely aired commercial in
which he vowed to work with Mr. Trump when it is in the states interest.

432
COMMENTS
But Virginia Democrats were in little mood to offer any olive branches to Mr. Trump
on Tuesday.

Mr. Kaine, who a year ago was left achingly short of becoming vice-president, was
especially triumphant in speaking to supporters.

Trump-style division, pitting people against people, it is not the Virginia Way
and it is not the American Way, he said.

Jonathan Martin reported from Fairfax, Va., and Alexander Burns from Richmond, Va.

A version of this article appears in print on November 8, 2017, on Page A1 of the

New York edition with the headline: Democrats Score Two Big Victories in Trump
Rebuke. Order Reprints| Today's Paper|Subscribe

Continue reading the main story

RECENT COMMENTS

Quandry 1 hour ago

It was more about what Northam didn't do. And it was more about what Gillespie did
do. That is the espousing of Trump's agenda of hatred...
ChristineMcM 2 hours ago
Regarding Northam, I was amazed! Called so early. I was watching his speech, Never
could understand his low poll numbers because of his...
V 3 hours ago
Time to take our country back.President Trump, you only have the support of 35% of
the voters. You lost by 3 million votes. I know you're...
SEE ALL COMMENTS WRITE A COMMENT
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