In the three-way Republican primary, former Republican National Committee Chairman Ed Gillespie held a narrow lead over Corey Stewart, a Prince William County official who was Trump's Virginia campaign co-chairman before he was sacked.
Stewart, the chairman of the Prince William County Board of Supervisors and a former co-chairman of Trump's campaign in Virginia, ran a controversial campaign, promising to fight the removal of Virginia's Confederate memorials and to crack down on illegal immigration, and pledging his loyalty to Trump and his policies. Gillespie was expected to win easily, and the close contest shows Trump's enduring appeal among GOP voters in Virginia, a state where Democrats have won every statewide election since 2009.
Northam easily defeated former U.S. Rep. Tom Perriello in the more closely watched Democratic contest by almost 12 points, which pitted the progressive Perriello against the establishment Northam. Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren as the best candidate to take on President Donald Trump.
Polling leading into Tuesday had Perriello, who jumped in to the race in January, even with Northam, who locked down the entire statewide Democratic apparatus more than a year ago.
Virginia and New Jersey are the only states set to elect governors this year, and the contest in the Old Dominion is attracting broad national attention as a possible early referendum on President Donald Trump ahead of the 2018 midterm elections. A total of five candidates are running to be Virginia's next governor.
"We're waiting back there because we really don't know how it's going to turn out, the final numbers", he said.
"We have changed the conversation here in Virginia and lifted the voices of those who have been left out of the political conservation for too long", Mr. Perriello said at a party in Falls Church. Gillespie is facing two challengers for the party nomination.
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On a hot and steamy June day, Virginia primary voters headed to the polls to pick contenders for the state's top two elected posts plus many House of Delegates seats. The retired Richmond resident said Northam is strong on issues such as education and healthcare and will continue governor Terry McAuliffe's efforts to bring more jobs to Virginia. But he never seemed to inspire as much passion as Stewart, for good or bad.
"Nearly more Virginians voted for Ralph Northam tonight than Ed Gillespie and Corey Stewart combined", Susan Swecker, chair of the Democratic Party of Virginia, said in a statement. Polls had shown him with a fraction of Gillespie's support, but a low turnout among Republican voters gave Stewart's committed base an outsize influence, and Wagner drew significant votes in Hampton Roads that might otherwise have gone to Gillespie.
Election nerds often point to low turnout among parties where the President shares their views, and the challengers, when the President faces dwindling favorability ratings (like Trump currently).
With 87 percent of precincts reporting, Republican state Sen.
Northam says he's running for governor "to build on Virginia's economic progress and defend our values against those who want to take us back". "I think it has bigger consequences than people imagine". Gillespie ran largely on pocketbook issues, like lowering the state income tax rate, but kept Trump at arm's length.
The campaigns for both the governor's and lieutenant governor's race provided plenty of drama for voters to follow this spring: Stewart appeared at a torch-lit rally in Charlottesville to protest the removal of Confederate monuments; Glenn Davis has lived out of his RV for much of the campaign to defray the cost of hotel stays; and Reeves accused Vogel of sending an email under a fake name to spread false rumors that he was having an affair.
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