COMMENTARY

Va., N.J. elections were a dead canary in the coal mine for the GOP; can Republicans learn from it?

Many will look at Tuesday and the Virginia GOP’s worst massacre of the 21st century and shrug it off as a blue state doing what a blue state does. That conclusion ignores abundant state political history and squanders two informative takeaways, writes columnist Bob Lewis.

BOB LEWIS
NOVEMBER 6, 2025
5:22 AM

{snip}
Virginia Governor-elect Abigail Spanberger’s husband and daughters join her on stage in Richmond where she gives a victory speech on Nov. 4, 2025. (Photo by Charlotte Rene Woods / Virginia Mercury)

Here’s how bad Tuesday night’s loss was for the Republican Party, certainly in Virginia and to some extent well beyond.

The 14-percentage point beating that Democratic Gov.-elect Abigail Spanberger inflicted on Republican Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears was the largest since Bob McDonnell’s 17-point trouncing of Democrat Creigh Deeds 16 years ago. After more than 400 years, Spanberger will be Virginia’s first woman governor.

{snip}