The results were absolutely good for Democrats. Regaining the House of Delegates under a Democratic president was HUGE. I CONCEDE this is not like the 2000s Virginia.
But still: HOW COME NO ONE IS MENTIONING THAT THE VA SENATE MARGIN FOR DEMOCRATS WENT DOWN BY ONE. It really did! VPAP.org is not lying.
Drumpf completely ignored Virginia in 2020.. and I still feel like if he didn't pull out and Kaine was not on the ticket in 2016 (which made like a 1% difference perhaps), he could have won it very narrowly.
The GOP is probably not going to totally concede Virginia in 2024. Though I think Kaine is basically safe and will outrun Biden.
I do believe it is a relatively polarized state in that it is very difficult for Democrats to be blown out there now adays.
There are still people who are saying VA is a solid blue state all over different platforms. It is just not true and completely.
Overall, irrespective of 2024 results with DRUMPF, Pennsylvania and Michigan Are. More. Democratic. Than. VA.
There were vote misallocations (and I am ING TIRED OF HEARING ABOUT THOSE "Biden +27 seats" that the GOP almost won. Completely False take)... but in Colorado Democrats were able to win every Biden district and even some Drumpf 2016 districts. Democrats are struggling to win any close Biden seat in Virginia, even if they clearly would have if drumpf was still in office.
In Colorado, a Republican was defeated for Colorado Springs mayor. We can't even beat an incumbent Sheriff in PWC and the DA race was close and were totally blown out in most Loudoun County races on the local level.
I often believed people online both overestimated Virginia's blue lean, and Nova being "conservative". It absolutely has a more liberal feel than other suburbia I lived in, but I could tell about a 1/3 of it was quite conservative and elitist even if liberals are a very clear majority. But we are limited of the margins we can get out of there. 65 in Fairfax, 57 in Loudoun, and upper 50s in PWC are about as far as we can realistically go consistent. Still better than Obama.
But there is not near as much migration in and out of Virginia compared to Colorado which is seeing more left leaning people move in and more right leaning people move out which has been conceded by the Colorado GOP.
In terms of migration patterns, most right leaners who move to the area are generally going to self sort into the Virginia side. They are not enough to flip any Nova counties, but they are increasing moving to VA as a whole.
Colorado is more likely to attract Democratic professionals.. more culturally liberal and more outdoorsy (despite Virginia being quite good for the outdoors).
Even on issues.. I do not see how the hell Democrats can get more than 57% of the vote for marijuana or abortion in Virginia. Where are these voters supposed to be? They do not exist! In Colorado, it would be lopsided well over 60%.
Virginia has the same problem North Carolina does with rural areas.. a lot of room left for the GOP to grow there. North Carolina just does not have a Nova and now a Richmond really.
With the black vote shifting a bit right, the black vote having turn out problems, the south side districts in Virginia will be complete headaches.
— signed: a Colorado Resident who lived in Virginia during and born in Missouri.
