VIRGINIA GOVERNOR
The following is a break down analysis from NBC News of the 11/7/17 Virginia Election Results For
Governor
| CANDIDATE | PARTY | VOTES | PCT. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ralph Northam / Winner | Democrat | 1,405,041 | 53.9% | |
| Ed Gillespie | Republican | 1,173,326 | 45.0 | |
| Clifford Hyra | Libertarian | 30,241 | 1.2 |
100% reporting (2,566 of 2,566 precincts)
Exit Polls: Virginia Democrats Make Gains Among Voters Under 30
“Virginians turned out in large numbers Tuesday despite the rainy and cold weather that gripped parts of the state.”
“More than 2,500,000 votes had been counted as of 10:16 p.m. Tuesday. That total dwarfs turnout for the past two Virginia gubernatorial elections. 2,240,314 voters cast ballots in 2013, and 1,984,934 voted in 2009.”
“Democrats eagerly worked to mobilize voters in the state in an effort to repudiate President Donald J. Trump one year after his surprise election victory. Republicans were hopeful that Virginia, which Hillary Clinton won in 2016, would deliver another surprise blow to Democrats.”
“Virginia’s Democratic Gov.-elect Ralph Northam picked up support among a large number of subgroups Tuesday night (11/7/17), especially among voters under 30, white women, moderates and those with college degrees.”
“Among white women and voters under 30, Democrats improved on their margins compared to 2013 largely by taking support from Libertarian candidates.”
“Among white women voters, Gillespie was still the favored candidate over Northam, but the Democratic candidate brought the edge to a 3-point margin.” (Note: Those who were the most reliable voters for the Democratic candidate Ralph Northam were our Black sisters.)
Democrats Make Major Gains in Virginia State House
“Virginia Democrats have picked up 10 House of Delegates seats and lead in seven more races, putting them within striking distance of taking the majority in the state legislature.”
“Democrats needed to flip 17 seats heading into Tuesday to retake the majority. And while the gubernatorial contest between Democrat Ralph Northam and Republican Ed Gillespie has dominated national attention, the 100 seats in the state’s House of Delegates could end up being the true bellwethers to gauge Democratic Party’s strength ahead of the 2018 midterms.”
“Virginia House Democratic Leader David Toscano called the results “unprecedented,” noting that the last time Democrats won more than five seats in a single year was 1975. “This isn’t a wave, this is a tsunami,” he told NBC News.”
Virginia’s Exit Polls
| VOTER CHARACTERISTICS/ATTITUDES | LEADER |
NORTHAM
|
GILLESPIE
|
HYRA
|
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gender | Male51% | 48 | 50 | 1 | |
| Female49% | 61 | 39 | 1 | ||
| Age | 18-2914% | 69 | 30 | 2 | |
| 30-4424% | 61 | 37 | 3 | ||
| 45-6442% | 49 | 50 | 1 | ||
| 65 or over20% | 47 | 53 | – | ||
| Age | 18-4437% | 64 | 34 | 2 | |
| 45 or over63% | 49 | 51 | 1 | ||
| Age | 18-6480% | 56 | 43 | 1 | |
| 65 or over20% | 47 | 53 | – | ||
| Race | White67% | 42 | 57 | 1 | |
| Black20% | 87 | 12 | 1 | ||
| Hispanic/Latino6% | 67 | 32 | 1 | ||
| Asian3% | – | – | – | ||
| Other3% | – | – | – | ||
| Gender by race | White men36% | 36 | 63 | 1 | |
| White women32% | 48 | 51 | 1 | ||
| Black men9% | 81 | 17 | 2 | ||
| Black women12% | 91 | 8 | – | ||
| Latino men3% | – | – | – | ||
| Latino women3% | – | – | – | ||
| All others6% | 71 | 28 | 1 | ||
| Education: College degree | College graduate58% | 60 | 39 | 1 | |
| No college degree42% | 46 | 52 | 2 | ||
| Education: High school diploma | More than high school graduate88% | 56 | 43 | 1 | |
| High school graduate or less12% | 41 | 58 | 1 | ||
| Education by race | White college graduates41% | 51 | 48 | 1 | |
| White no college degree26% | 26 | 72 | 2 | ||
| Non-white college graduates17% | 80 | 19 | 1 | ||
| Non-white no college degree16% | 80 | 19 | 1 | ||
| Education by gender among whites | White women college graduates20% | 58 | 42 | 1 | |
| White women no college degree11% | 32 | 67 | 1 | ||
| White men college graduates21% | 46 | 54 | 1 | ||
| White men no college degree15% | 22 | 76 | 2 | ||
| All others33% | 80 | 19 | 1 | ||
| Income | Under $30,00010% | – | – | – | |
| $30,000 – $49,99913% | 57 | 41 | 2 | ||
| $50,000 – $99,99933% | 57 | 41 | 2 | ||
| $100,000 – $199,99934% | 54 | 45 | 1 | ||
| $200,000 or more10% | – | – | – | ||
| Income | Under $50,00023% | 56 | 43 | 2 | |
| $50,000-$99,99933% | 57 | 41 | 2 | ||
| $100,000 or more44% | 54 | 45 | 1 | ||
| No matter how you voted today, do you usually think of yourself as a: | Democrat41% | 97 | 3 | – | |
| Republican30% | 4 | 95 | – | ||
| Independent or something else28% | 47 | 50 | 3 | ||
| Party by gender | Democratic men17% | 96 | 3 | 1 | |
| Democratic women24% | 97 | 2 | – | ||
| Republican men17% | 5 | 95 | 1 | ||
| Republican women13% | 4 | 96 | – | ||
| Independent men16% | 45 | 52 | 3 | ||
| Independent women12% | 50 | 48 | 2 | ||
| Ideology | Liberal27% | 92 | 6 | 2 | |
| Moderate42% | 64 | 33 | 3 | ||
| Conservative31% | 9 | 90 | – | ||
| Are you currently married? | Yes67% | 51 | 47 | 2 | |
| No33% | 63 | 35 | 2 | ||
| Gender by marital status | Married men37% | 48 | 50 | 2 | |
| Married women30% | 54 | 44 | 1 | ||
| Non-married men16% | 50 | 47 | 3 | ||
| Non-married women16% | 77 | 22 | 1 | ||
| White Evangelical or born-again Christian | Yes26% | 19 | 79 | 1 | |
| No74% | 67 | 31 | 2 | ||
| Does anyone in your household own a gun? | Yes52% | 37 | 61 | 2 | |
| No48% | 73 | 26 | 1 | ||
| When did you finally decide for whom to vote in the election for governor? | In the last few days10% | – | – | – | |
| In the last week8% | – | – | – | ||
| In October17% | 45 | 52 | 3 | ||
| Before that63% | 55 | 44 | 1 | ||
| When did you finally decide for whom to vote in the election for governor? | In the last week18% | 61 | 37 | 2 | |
| Before that80% | 53 | 46 | 2 | ||
| When did you finally decide for whom to vote in the election for governor? | October/November36% | 53 | 44 | 2 | |
| Before that63% | 55 | 44 | 1 | ||
| Which one of these five issues mattered most in deciding how you voted for governor today? | Gun policy17% | 49 | 49 | 2 | |
| Health care39% | 77 | 23 | 1 | ||
| Abortion8% | – | – | – | ||
| Immigration12% | 26 | 74 | – | ||
| Taxes15% | 31 | 64 | 4 | ||
| How do you feel about the way Donald Trump is handling his job as president? | Strongly approve22% | 3 | 97 | – | |
| Somewhat approve18% | 14 | 83 | 2 | ||
| Somewhat disapprove9% | – | – | – | ||
| Strongly disapprove47% | 95 | 4 | 1 | ||
| How do you feel about the way Donald Trump is handling his job as president? | Approve40% | 8 | 91 | 1 | |
| Disapprove57% | 87 | 11 | 2 | ||
| Was one reason for your vote for governor today: | To express support for Donald Trump17% | 4 | 96 | – | |
| To express opposition to Donald Trump34% | 97 | 2 | 1 | ||
| Donald Trump was not a factor47% | 41 | 56 | 3 | ||
| Is your opinion of the Democratic Party: | Favorable51% | 95 | 4 | 1 | |
| Unfavorable46% | 9 | 88 | 3 | ||
| Is your opinion of the Republican Party: | Favorable37% | 9 | 90 | 1 | |
| Unfavorable59% | 84 | 15 | 2 | ||
| How do you feel about the way Terry McAuliffe is handling his job as governor? | Strongly approve24% | 95 | 5 | – | |
| Somewhat approve30% | 71 | 26 | 2 | ||
| Somewhat disapprove18% | 33 | 65 | 2 | ||
| Strongly disapprove22% | 5 | 94 | 1 | ||
| How do you feel about the way Terry McAuliffe is handling his job as governor? | Approve54% | 82 | 17 | 2 | |
| Disapprove41% | 18 | 81 | 1 | ||
| Is Virginia’s economy: | Getting better32% | 59 | 40 | 1 | |
| Getting worse17% | 36 | 63 | 2 | ||
| Staying about the same48% | 59 | 39 | 2 | ||
| Who would you trust to handle race relations? | Only Ralph Northam39% | 97 | 2 | 1 | |
| Only Ed Gillespie23% | 2 | 98 | – | ||
| Both of them17% | 43 | 56 | 1 | ||
| Neither of them16% | 37 | 56 | 7 | ||
| Should monuments to Confederate leaders on government property be: | Removed38% | 91 | 8 | 1 | |
| Left in place57% | 27 | 71 | 2 | ||
| Population | City over 50,000-1% | – | – | – | |
| Suburbs-1% | – | – | – | ||
| Small city and Rural-1% | – | – | – | ||
| Region | D.C. Suburbs28% | 69 | 30 | 1 | |
| Central Virginia17% | 46 | 53 | 1 | ||
| Hampton Roads16% | 61 | 37 | 1 | ||
| Richmond/Southside19% | 54 | 44 | 1 | ||
| Mountain20% | 34 | 64 | 1 | ||
Gronda Morin 
Gronda, you have seen me say this before, but it bears repeating. As an independent, former member of both parties, neither party owns all of the good ideas and both have some bad ones. Two of my many frustrations are politicians making decisions off campaign rhetoric and people not paying attention to real news from legitimate sources. A reason I left the GOP is a tendency to adhere to made up news, far more than the Democrats. Right now, we cannot address major problems in our country like – healthcare, climate change, debt and deficit, gun deaths et al – because we are not dealing with facts and what people want. I cannot believe we are about to pass a tax bill that will increase the debt with a stated mission to jump start an economy that is already on a 100 consecutive months growth period, one of the longest in our country’s history. As for my Democrat friends, they need to remember that the two of the most successful recent Democrat Presidents were moderate Democrats. Keith
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Dear Keith,
I couldn’t agree more about the democratic party leaders needing to act with moderation. The policies are in their favor if they don’t go off the deep end heady with some victories. Almost all of the democratic policies are designed to improve the lot of all Americans like sensible gun control, access to affordable high quality healthcare insurance to all, improving the quality of the air and water; easier access to the ballot box with accountability; improving viability of entitlement programs, etc.
Right now, I would settle for a greater degree of decency.
Hugs, Gronda
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Agreed. Decency would be nice, especially with its counterpoint in the White House.
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