(The Center Square) – Most commentators avoided making strong predictions about the outcome of Tuesday’s general election for the Virginia Senate, but many also noted that the 40-member Senate tends to lean left.
It leaned into a victory for Democrats early Wednesday morning.
The Democrats were clearly favored to win 20 seats heading into the election. Just one of the four highly competitive seats that could go either way would keep the Senate majority, possibly even the 22-18 advantage held prior to Election Day.
As a result, Democrats focused almost all of their energies on the seats where they had the advantage. Both parties competed fiercely for the four seats hanging in the balance, together pouring over $34 million into eight campaigns.
Democrats’ strategy worked. Lawyer and former CIA officer Russet Perry beat Republican opponent and entrepreneur Juan Pablo Segura with 52% of the vote.
Perry posted on social media, “Thank you, SD-31. I’m truly humbled and honored to be your chosen representative in the Virginia State Senate. My commitment to work for this community to protect choice, support parents, kids, and teachers in our public education, continue to fight for public safety, help families flourish, support veterans, and preserve our beautiful environment for the next generation remains unwavering.”
Republicans bested Democrats in two hotly contested races, with Del. Tara Durant edging out Democratic candidate Joel Griffin by a narrow 2 percentage points – in part thanks to independent candidate Monica Gary nabbing votes that likely would have gone to Griffin otherwise – and Del. Emily Brewer cleanly beating Del. Clint Jenkins collecting 52% of the votes.
“Stafford, Fredericksburg, and Spotsylvania – thank you for entrusting me to represent our community in the Virginia Senate!” Durant posted on social media before midnight on Tuesday.
Griffin issued a statement saying he personally offered his “heartfelt congratulations” to Durant and “whatever support she needs” to continue to serve their community.
Neither Brewer nor Jenkins had issued a statement as of early Wednesday afternoon, but during Brewer’s campaign, she shared her plans to further develop her district economically by promoting business- and agriculture-friendly policies that will create opportunities for the next generation.
As of early Wednesday afternoon, the race for District 24 between Democratic incumbent Monty Mason and Republican challenger and former sheriff Danny Diggs, was still showing as undecided by nonprofit the Virginia Public Access Project. However, it was also showing Diggs with a margin just over 1.5% – greater than the 1%-or-less margin in which the race would be eligible for recount.
Heading into the election, Republicans were projected to comfortably win 18 seats – short of the 20 they would need. Republican Lt. Gov. Winsome Sears would serve as the tiebreaker in cases of gridlock to give Republicans an effective majority. Republicans devoted their efforts to districts they knew they could keep and the most competitive seats, like Democrats – and a couple Democratic-leaning districts in particular to increase their chances.
By a slim margin, Republicans actually outspent Democrats in Henrico County District 16 where Democratic Del. Schuyler VanValkenburg outran Republican incumbent Siobhan Dunnavant with 54% of the vote.
In Northern Virginia’s District 30, a Prince William-Manassas district, Republicans also failed to secure a seat for candidate Bill Woolf. Danica Roem became Virginia’s first transgender senator by a margin of almost 2,000 votes, or 51.5% to Woolf’s 48.2%.
“I’m grateful the people of Virginia’s 30th Senate district elected me to continue representing my lifelong home of western Prince William County and greater Manassas,” Roem said in a statement. “The voters have shown they want a leader who will prioritize fixing roads, feeding kids, and protecting our land instead of stigmatizing trans kids or taking away your civil rights.”
