Democrats Flip the House and Senate in Virginia

On election night, 2019, Virginia officially moved from Purple to Blue. No longer is there a balance between Democrats and Republicans on the state level, there is now a unified government controlled by the Democrats. The Virginia House of Delegates will soon have a Democratic majority as will the Senate. Both were in the hands of the Republicans who will lose control in January. In addition, every statewide elected official is now a Democrat.

The top priority of voters and the Democrats is to enact common sense gun control. Bills to put curbs on guns always went nowhere in Virginia because the GOP has long been in the pocket of the National Rifle Association.

Even several mass shootings in the state could not convince the Republicans to enact the least stringent measures. In 2007 a Virginia Tech student shot and killed 33 people; in Virginia Beach earlier this year 12 people were shot dead and four more injured by a city employee.

The Democrats success in the off year election two years ago set the stage for this year’s victories. Last year the GOP lost three congressional seats. It is not unexpected that whoever is the Democratic nominee for president, the candidate will carry Virginia next year.

Photo credit: Matthew Barakat/Associated Press