When It Comes to Trump, Virginia Is for Haters

“It’s surreal,” said Kimberly Pope Adams, a victorious candidate for the Virginia House of Delegates, as she walked to her raucous victory party Tuesday night. In 2023, the Democrat lost her race for this Virginia House seat by just 53 votes. On Tuesday night, she won with 53 percent of the vote, overwhelmingly defeating Republican incumbent Kim Taylor, with a focus on affordability, abortion rights, health care and the more equitable distribution of the 82nd District’s wealth between its white suburbs and black St. Petersburg. (She won an incredible 89 percent of the vote in St. Petersburg.)

After visiting Adams in Petersburg, I wrote last week that Virginia Democrats, who mounted the first major anti-Donald Trump electoral resistance in 2017, were not exhibiting the same energy — although it was good — eight years later.

Maybe I was wrong.

Just like in 2017, Democrats won all three statewide elections. Governor-elect Abigail Spanberger won by 15 points, more than Ralph Northam’s margin during that first anti-Trump uprising. Ghazma Hashmi comfortably won the lieutenant governor’s race, and embattled attorney general candidate Jay Jones, removed because of his own chilling texts touting violence, rode the coattails of women to win by nearly seven points.

But most astonishingly, the Democrats won 13 seats in the House of Delegates, increasing their margin to 64 to 36. That was practically the Republican Party’s margin in 2017, until the Democrats won 15 seats, almost taking the majority. Another contrast: Kamala Harris won 59 of the 100 delegated districts; as of Tuesday night, Democrats won 64.

“This was a truly epic victory, truly on par with Virginia 2017,” says Virginia Democratic political expert Carolyn Fiddler. Fiddler was my guide until 2017, when she said the “Trump effect” had led to an unprecedented number of women running for office — as I translated it: “If this fucking asshole can be president, I can run for office.”

“This is the largest Democratic majority in 40 years,” Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee Chairwoman Heather Williams said Wednesday morning. “And we’ve seen a Democratic shift in almost every community.” In fact, every county voted more Democratic than in 2024, even the red ones. The unprecedented fielding of Democratic candidates in all 100 districts — Republicans fielded only 84, leaving 16 Democratic incumbents completely safe — certainly contributed to the surge. “Of course it was a factor,” says Dr. Fergie Reid Jr., whose progressive group 90 for 90 recruited challengers in redder districts (which, it must be said, the Virginia Democratic Party was reluctant to do, wary of wasting resources).

Other Democratic women, alongside Adams, winning rematches after 2023 defeats: Jessica Anderson in the Williamsburg area, Lindsey Dougherty in Chesterfield and Lily Franklin in Roanoke County and Blacksburg. Elizabeth Guzman, the 2017 winner, lost her Prince William County seat after redistricting in 2023, but regained it Tuesday night. (You can find other notable Democratic victories here.)

In a way, Virginia was the starting point for Trump’s assault on America. His massive layoffs in the federal sector have disproportionately hit the state, whose suburbs serve as dormitories for the federal government. The 36-day shutdown was another blow to Virginia’s economy, as well as the state’s sense of fairness.

Adams, who told me she started running again right after her devastating 2023 defeat, thanked her supporters who “refused to give up” in her victory speech Tuesday night.