In Virginia, there is no off year for elections, something the commonwealth's Republican governor, Glenn Youngkin, is well aware of. He was elected in November 2021, looked to help candidates in the 2022 midterm elections, and is looking to help statewide Republicans maintain control of the House of Delegates as well as retake the state Senate for this November. Of course, next year is a presidential year. The House of Delegate races are especially critical, given Democrats need to just win back three races. Youngkin is mindful of this, as he also helped Republicans win control of the chamber back in 2021. He's not the only one who's taken notice, as Hillary Clinton is looking to meddle in Virginia.
"There are no off-years!," Hillary's tweet from Wednesday declared, showing off her knowledge of Virginia elections. She also tagged a bunch of Democratic, leftist organizations aiming to flip the state House.
There are no off-years! Democrats only need to flip three seats to regain control of the Virginia state House. Plug in with @onwardtogether groups and friends like @swingleft, @runforsomething, @dlcc and more to learn how to help.https://t.co/qcW5ws37H9
— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) June 28, 2023
In addition to all the tags and the call to arms, Hillary's tweet shared an article from the leftist Daily Kos. Although the piece gets the rules for Virginia governors wrong, it does lay out a helpful preview. Youngkin is not, "limited to just a single term as governor," as the report claims. He just can't run for back to back terms. There was one popularly elected governor in the late 1960's and mid 1974's, and Democrat Terry McAuliffe tried to achieve the same feat, but we'll get to him later.
When it comes to Youngkin, the report mentions his "well-funded campaign." It's also worth adding that all of Youngkin's 19 endorsed candidates won their primary earlier this month, including the 10 contested races.
The Daily Kos also adds context of how "[t]his will be the first election conducted using the legislative maps that were crafted in late 2021 by consultants appointed by the state Supreme Court after Virginia's new bipartisan Redistricting Commission failed to agree on boundaries."
Virginians had voted for that commission in 2020. Look how well that worked out for them.
"But due to redistricting, some Republicans have now wound up on bluer turf while some Democrats have found themselves in the reverse position, and many incumbents are now introducing themselves to sizable numbers of new voters," the report adds.
Making this 2023 election year even more of a nail-bitter is how the three House seats is indeed "a much smaller figure than the number that’s changed hands in each of the last three elections."
Still, "no one can say for sure what the state's political climate will look like this fall," the report pointed out, as it was also forced to acknowledge Youngkin's high approval ratings. Even though his ratings are down from previous months, a May poll from Roanoke College still has the governor with majority support at 51 percent.
With the nominees only having been chosen weeks ago, and the general election still a little over five months away, there's still time for the political landscape to change. That certainly seemed to be the case for last year's November midterms.
Nevertheless, Youngkin is a prolific ally to have in these races, something not emphasized enough by the Daily Kos. In addition to using his wealth to help down ballot Republicans, they also rode his coattails to wrestle control of the House of Delegates away from Democrats in 2021.
Going back to McAuliff, he has quite the connection with both Hillary and Bill. In addition to his personal and political friendship with them and his role as a notorious fundraiser, he had also served as co-chairman of Bill's 1996 presidential campaign and chairman of Hillary's 2008 presidential campaign.
He was elected as governor in 2013 and tried again in 2021, but lost to Youngkin. Although McAuliffe defied history once by winning in 2013 even after a member of the same party won the presidency, he couldn't quite do it again. That one governor who managed to be popularly elected for non consecutive terms was Mills Godwin. He did so as a Democrat in 1966 and then as a Republican in 1974.
"Virginians" was trending on Twitter Thursday night and early Friday morning, as a wake-up call regarding Hillary's tweet. By early Friday morning, her tweet had over 5,000 replies, many of them calling out her scandals to the point of trolling.
Hillary Clinton encouraging Virginians to vote Democrat should be a wake up call to every independent voter in our Commonwealth.
— ROOZ (@ROOZVA) June 29, 2023
They want to turn Virginia into the next New York or California, and we CANNOT allow that to happen.
Vote Republican like your future depends on it. https://t.co/cCChG4aUWi
Clinton and her posse are coming for Virginia. She knows we have the greatest opportunity in decades to set the Commonwealth straight this November. When we flip the Senate and hold the House, Republicans will deliver for Virginians.
— Wren Williams (@WrenWilliamsVA) June 29, 2023
Donate here to help: https://t.co/vOcT5m2AGj https://t.co/qnjbPIuj86
The trend was also due to tweets from Youngkin's PAC though, as well as the RSLC highlighting the governor's appearance on Fox News during Thursday's "Hannity" where he laid out his commitment for Republican control.
.@GlennYoungkin: “I am focused on Virginia. We must hold our House. We must flip our Senate. This year is such an important year for us to demonstrate for the nation that a blue state can turn red & that we can go from dropping behind to leading — just like Virginia always has.” pic.twitter.com/V4eAuOA3Fm
— Team Youngkin - Spirit of Virginia (@TeamYoungkin) June 29, 2023
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