All 100 Home of Delegates seats have been on the poll on Tuesday, and Democrats have emerged from the election with majority management of the chamber.
Earlier within the night time, Democrats secured the bulk within the state Senate, giving the celebration full management of the legislature.
Democrats misplaced majority management of the Virginia Home two years in the past in the identical election that gave the state its first Republican governor since 2013.
The incoming Home Democratic majority will even be history-making, ought to present Democratic chief Don Scott change into the chamber’s subsequent speaker; he would be the first Black Virginian to steer the chamber since its institution (then because the Home of Burgesses) in 1619.
With a Democratic majority, the Home will be part of the Senate to change into a roadblock to Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s conservative agenda, which incorporates banning abortion, chopping taxes for companies and the wealthiest Virginians, and diverting taxpayer {dollars} away from public training to fund non-public colleges.
Agenda gadgets that may possible transfer ahead in a Democratic-majority Common Meeting embody enhancing gun security, making prescribed drugs extra inexpensive, absolutely funding the commonwealth’s public training wants, decreasing housing prices, and defending reproductive rights within the state structure.
Democrats didn’t win their Home majority simply or cheaply; last finance experiences from candidates and PACs are nonetheless pending, however advert spending alone means that this yr’s elections have been the most costly ever.
Since Virginia governors can’t succeed themselves, Youngkin is barred from operating for reelection, and with out his celebration answerable for the Common Meeting for the ultimate two years of his time period, he’ll start 2024 as a lame duck. Few of his agenda gadgets are prone to be handed into regulation earlier than he leaves workplace.
