Yes, the Virginia governor looks pretty tall through the lens of nearby D.C. pundits.
Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
As it happens, New Jersey and Virginia hold gubernatorial elections in the year following presidential elections. So more often than not, the party that holds the White House tends to do poorly in the ensuing New Jersey/Virginia gubernatorial contests. Indeed, between 1973 and 2021, the candidate of the White House party has won exactly once in Virginia. The candidate who broke that long streak in 2013, Democrat Terry McAuliffe, was again his party’s nominee in 2021. His presence on the ballot and a discernible blue trend in Virginia presidential voting made Republican Glenn Youngkin’s solid…
