While the midterms are a little less than two years away, there are two big governor races in New Jersey and Virgina that we Democrats and Progressives can turn our attention to. Both years are great times for the party out of power to take back some key races. In New Jersey, we’re battling hard to take back the Governorship from disgraced corrupt Governor and failed Presidential candidate, Chris Christie (R. NJ) (I’ll be writing about that race soon. In Virginia, we’re going to be fighting hard to hold onto the Governorship since Governor Terry McAuliffe (D. VA) is term-limited. The big question is how much damage President-Elect Donald Trump will have not just on the country but on the GOP. A lot can happen in the span of a year and he’s already off to a bad start with his transitional team. But what should be worrisome to the GOP is his die hard supporters are already running hard to push out establishment leaders on state levels. Politico is out with an article highlighting how Trump’s supporters are gearing up for complete party takeover and Virginia is already a top state on their list:
In Virginia, Corey Stewart, Trump’s former state chairman, is preparing a 2017 bid for the governor that will first pit him against fellow Republican Ed Gillespie, a former RNC chairman who was lukewarm in his support of Trump during the presidential campaign and never appeared onstage with him.
Already, Gillespie's strained relationship with the GOP's new landlord is emerging as an issue, with Stewart accusing the former party leader of being insufficiently supportive of the incoming president.
“People know that I’m a true-blue Trump supporter,” said Stewart, adding that he wanted to campaign with Trump. “It’s been like rocket-fuel for my campaign as soon he won. It’s a complete change from what it was before Nov. 8.”
“That yearning for change, that anger at the establishment, it’s still out there,” he said. “I’m grabbing hold of that movement in Virginia. I’m effectively the leader of it.”
So far, it remains a mystery as to how Trump will engage on political matters and whether he will campaign for former aides and volunteers.
Here’s a little information on Stewart:
Donald Trump’s presidential campaign fired its Virginia state co-chairman, Corey Stewart, on Monday after he took part in a protest in front of Republican National Committee headquarters, a move with repercussions in both the national campaign and the 2017 governor’s race.
The messy parting of ways came just weeks before the election and was the latest sign of turmoil in a campaign that has recently been in a free-fall. Stewart and senior Trump campaign officials blamed each other for problems in Virginia, where polls show Democrat Hillary Clinton leads comfortably.
“Former Virginia State Chairman Corey Stewart is no longer affiliated with the Donald J. Trump for President campaign,” said Trump’s deputy campaign manager, David Bossie, in a statement. “He is being replaced, effective immediately. Corey made this decision when he staged a stunt in front of the RNC without the knowledge or the approval of the Trump campaign.”
Stewart acknowledged that he was let go for supporting the rally in front of RNC headquarters in the District, which was aimed at warning the national party against abandoning Trump. He said he did not organize the rally but wholeheartedly backed it and helped spread the word about it.
Keep in mind, Virginia’s open GOP convention helped extremist Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli (R. VA) win his party’s nominee and of course he would go on to lose to McAuliffe in a very tight race.
Now I know we were hoping Trump would be a gift for down-ballot Democrats this past year but obviously that wasn’t the case. However, these are midterm and off year elections so these are different scenarios. We may not be able to win back the U.S. Senate or the House just yet because of the gerrymandering and the way the map is shaped but Governor races are our biggest targets and winning these Governor races will help us fight back against gerrymandering preparing us for fairer congressional district lines in 2020.
Looking to Virginia, Lt. Governor Ralph Northam (D. VA) has already launched his bid for Governor. Northam has experience crushing right-win fanatics like E.W. Jackson (R. VA) so if a Trump nominee were to win the primary, it could be smooth sailing for him all over again. However, Northam should not take a Trump nominee for granted and he should certainly take Gillespie seriously as a candidate. Gillespie surprisingly came close but still lost to unseating incumbent U.S. Senator Mark Warner (D. VA). It really remains to be seen how this race will play out but either way we should get ready to face either outcome. So lets get a head start. Click here to donate and get involved with Northam’s campaign.