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Ralph Northam Is Virginia’s Democratic Nominee for Governor Ralph Northam Is Virginia’s Democratic Nominee for Governor
(35 minutes later)
ARLINGTON, Va. — Ralph Northam, Virginia’s lieutenant governor, fended off an upstart challenge to capture the Democratic nomination in the state’s race for governor on Tuesday, according to The Associated Press. He will face the winner of the Republican primary, where three candidates are competing, in a November clash that may test how much of a burden President Trump is for Republicans among moderate voters, who are deeply contemptuous of the president. ARLINGTON, Va. — Ralph Northam, Virginia’s lieutenant governor, easily fended off an upstart challenge to capture the Democratic nomination in the state’s race for governor on Tuesday, according to The Associated Press. He will face the winner of the Republican primary, where the front-runner, Ed Gillespie, was facing a scare, in a November clash that may test how much of a burden President Trump is for Republicans among moderate voters.
Mr. Northam defeated Tom Perriello, a former congressman, who entered the race unexpectedly at the start of the year and mounted an aggressive insurgent campaign that gave the state’s Democratic establishment a scare. Mr. Northam defeated Tom Perriello, a former congressman, who entered the race unexpectedly at the start of the year and mounted an aggressive insurgent campaign that upset the state’s Democratic establishment.
But the threat roused Mr. Northam, 57, a mild-mannered physician. He amplified his rhetoric against Mr. Trump, calling the president “a narcissistic maniac.” And he effectively harnessed the support of every statewide elected Democrat, won a handful of other influential endorsements and spent millions on television ads to repel Mr. Perriello.But the threat roused Mr. Northam, 57, a mild-mannered physician. He amplified his rhetoric against Mr. Trump, calling the president “a narcissistic maniac.” And he effectively harnessed the support of every statewide elected Democrat, won a handful of other influential endorsements and spent millions on television ads to repel Mr. Perriello.
The Republican race was overshadowed by the intensity of the Democratic contest. But the front-runner, Ed Gillespie, a former chairman of the Republican National Committee, was facing a challenge from Corey Stewart, the chairman of the Prince William County Board of Supervisors. Emulating Mr. Trump’s incendiary style by railing against political correctness and vowing to protect the state’s Confederate monuments, Mr. Stewart defeated Mr. Gillespie in a number of rural counties. The Republican race was overshadowed by the intensity of the Democratic contest. But Mr. Gillespie, a former chairman of the Republican National Committee, was facing a serious challenge from Corey Stewart, the chairman of the Prince William County Board of Supervisors. Emulating Mr. Trump’s incendiary style by railing against political correctness and vowing to protect the state’s Confederate monuments, Mr. Stewart defeated Mr. Gillespie in a number of rural counties.
The Republican race illustrated Mr. Gillespie’s dilemma: how to handle a president who remains broadly popular on the right but is politically toxic among the broader electorate in Virginia, the only Southern state carried by Hillary Clinton. The Republican race, which also included State Senator Frank Wagner, illustrated the party’s dilemma: how to handle a president who remains broadly popular on the right but is politically toxic among the broader electorate in Virginia, the only Southern state carried by Hillary Clinton.
Mr. Northam begins the race with an advantage thanks in large part to Mr. Trump. Nearly 60 percent of Virginia independents disapprove of Mr. Trump, according to a Washington Post poll last month. Though he is expected to be well financed in what is one of just two elections for governor this fall — New Jersey is holding the other — Mr. Gillespie, a former Washington lobbyist, faces formidable obstacles. Virginia is increasingly diverse, especially in its vote-rich urban crescent from the Washington suburbs to Hampton Roads, and it has been drifting away from the Republicans, who have not won a statewide election here since 2009. Mr. Stewart embraced the president and assailed Mr. Gillespie in harsh terms, much as Mr. Trump did to his rivals in last year’s Republican primary. Mr. Gillespie kept his distance from Mr. Trump, rarely saying his name and, when pressed by Mr. Stewart, saying only that he had supported the party’s “ticket” in 2016.
Democrats here are plainly energized about sending a message to Mr. Trump. After Mr. Perriello, 42, entered the race with slashing speeches against the president, Mr. Northam saw how voters were responding and began speaking out more fiercely. By the end of the primary campaign, both Democrats were airing commercials attacking Mr. Trump. Mr. Northam begins the race with an advantage thanks in large part to Mr. Trump. Nearly 60 percent of Virginia independents disapprove of Mr. Trump, according to a Washington Post poll last month. Virginia is increasingly diverse, especially in its vote-rich urban crescent from the Washington suburbs to Hampton Roads, and it has been drifting away from the Republicans, who have not won a statewide election here since 2009.
There was not supposed to be a Democratic race here at all. Gov. Terry McAuliffe, who by state law cannot run for re-election, and every other elected Democrat in the state rallied behind Mr. Northam last year. Mr. Trump has widened the political gulf in a state that was already culturally cleaved among Appalachia, the traditional South and the fast-growing mid-Atlantic. The Republican nominee will have to try to create a coalition that melds pro-Trump rural conservatives with anti-Trump suburbanites.
But after Mr. Trump’s election, Mr. Perriello, who lost his seat in the House in 2010 and was working for the State Department under President Barack Obama, stunned Virginia’s political establishment by declaring his candidacy. He focused his gaze more on Washington than on Richmond, the state capital, seemingly seizing on every controversy facing the Trump administration and eventually calling for the president’s impeachment. Democrats here are plainly energized about sending a message to Mr. Trump: Turnout spiked from the last time they had a contested primary for governor. After Mr. Perriello, 42, entered the race with slashing speeches against the president, Mr. Northam saw how voters were responding and began speaking out more fiercely. By the end of the campaign, both Democrats were airing commercials attacking Mr. Trump. Now, some Republicans fear that Mr. Northam, an Army veteran from the state’s Eastern Shore, could be difficult to attack as a dogmatic liberal.
Mr. Perriello faced criticism for what opponents said were conversions of political convenience on gun control and abortion rights. But he quickly sought to outflank Mr. Northam, 57, on the left with attacks on Dominion, Virginia’s politically muscular utility; a proposal for tuition-free two-year colleges; and talk on social issues rarely heard in a state that until 2008 had voted for a string of Republican presidential nominees for 40 years. His primary victory was a sign that institutional advantages still matter in an increasingly diffuse political era, at least in a statewide election.
The Democratic candidates’ focus on Mr. Trump in the primary raised eyebrows among some of the more cautious party members in Virginia, but it won Mr. Perriello attention beyond the state’s borders. Senators Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts took his side. And he raised about a quarter of his campaign money from a pair of out-of-state families — those of George Soros and S. Donald Sussman — who together gave him nearly $1 million. He was joined on the final weekend before the election by a trio of popular Virginia Democrats: Gov. Terry McAuliffe and Senators Tim Kaine and Mark Warner. He had the support of every Democrat in the state’s General Assembly, raised more money than Mr. Perriello and outspent him on television in the race’s last weeks.
Roused by the threat of losing a nomination he thought was his, Mr. Northam pivoted from stockpiling money from Virginia’s business community to wooing the left. But some Democratic voters here shrugged off those traditional signs of strength. They preferred Mr. Perriello’s blistering anti-Trump rhetoric, unapologetically liberal politics and stamp of approval from two of the country’s most prominent progressives, Senators Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts.
A mild-mannered physician with rural roots and an accent to match, he won the support of the state’s teachers union and a coveted endorsement from The Washington Post, and was joined on the final weekend of the primary campaign by three popular Virginia Democrats: Mr. McAuliffe, Mr. Warner and Senator Tim Kaine. There was not supposed to be a Democratic race here at all. Mr. McAuliffe, who by state law cannot run for re-election, and every other elected Democrat in the state rallied behind Mr. Northam last year.
Mr. Northam, who aggressively courted black voters, also lobbied to ensure Mr. Obama’s neutrality in the race by calling Eric H. Holder Jr., Mr. Obama’s friend and former attorney general, to note that he had supported Mr. Obama’s candidacy in another hotly contested Democratic primary here: his 2008 race for president against Hillary Clinton. But after Mr. Trump’s election, Mr. Perriello, who lost his seat in the House in 2010 and worked for the State Department under President Barack Obama, stunned Virginia’s political establishment by declaring his candidacy. He focused his gaze more on Washington than on Richmond, the state capital, seeming to seize on every controversy facing the Trump administration and eventually calling for the president’s impeachment.
Mr. Perriello’s steady focus on Mr. Trump unsettled some of the more cautious Democrats in Virginia, but it won him attention and money beyond the state’s borders.
Stirred by the threat of losing a nomination he thought was his, Mr. Northam pivoted from stockpiling money from Virginia’s business community to wooing the left. He courted African-American voters, who appeared to strongly support him on Tuesday, and engaged in a back-channel campaign to ensure Mr. Obama’s neutrality in the race.
Mr. Northam called Eric H. Holder Jr., Mr. Obama’s friend and former attorney general, to note that he had supported Mr. Obama’s candidacy in another hotly contested Democratic primary here: his 2008 race for the presidential nomination against Hillary Clinton.