All 40 Virginia state Senate seats had been on the poll on Tuesday, and Democrats have emerged from the election with majority management of the chamber.
After key Democratic retirements and main election upsets earlier within the yr, this majority can be youthful and certain extra progressive than it was beforehand.
The incoming Senate Democratic caucus can even be history-making; Senator-elect Danica Roem would be the first transgender girl to serve within the chamber.
With a Democratic majority, the Senate will stay a roadblock to Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s conservative agenda, which incorporates banning abortion, reducing taxes for firms and the wealthiest Virginians, and diverting taxpayer {dollars} away from public schooling to fund non-public faculties.
Different Republican agenda gadgets the state Senate will doubtless be tasked with blocking within the coming legislative session embrace ebook bans and rolling again voting rights by eliminating or decreasing early voting, same-day voter registration, and absentee voting.
Democratic Sen. Louise Lucas will now be probably the most senior and highly effective Democrat within the chamber, and her file means that she is going to emerge as Youngkin’s chief antagonist in his closing two years in workplace.
Democrats didn’t win their Senate majority simply or cheaply; closing finance stories from candidates and PACs are nonetheless pending, however advert spending alone means that this yr’s elections had been the most costly ever. Youngkin’s Spirit of Virginia PAC donated greater than $5 million straight to Republican Senate candidates.
Since Virginia governors can not succeed themselves, Youngkin is barred from working for reelection, and with out his get together answerable for the Basic Meeting for the ultimate two years of his time period, he’ll start 2024 as a lame duck. Few of his agenda gadgets are more likely to be handed into regulation earlier than he leaves workplace.
