Inside Jay Jones and the Democrats’ late surge to upset wins across Virginia, from the suburbs to the shore
Virginia took on new life Tuesday as a Democratic stronghold, with Abigail Spanberger, Jay Jones, and Ghazala Hashmi sweeping the statewide races — marking the party’s largest power shift in...
By Fox News · Fox News
Virginia took on new life Tuesday as a Democratic stronghold, with Abigail Spanberger, Jay Jones, and Ghazala Hashmi sweeping the statewide races — marking the party’s largest power shift in more than a decade as Republicans lost at least a dozen legislative seats. The Virginia Beach and Greater Hampton Roads area appeared to be the biggest boon for hometown son Jones, who represented Norfolk in the state legislature and whose namesake father did for years prior. Several Tidewater counties that backed Glenn Youngkin in 2021 flipped blue this time, helping boost Jones and the Democratic ticket. The densely populated independent cities of Virginia Beach, Chesapeake joined typically Democratic Suffolk, Norfolk and Newport News to help propel Jones to victory, according to postmortem maps. James City County – which surrounds Williamsburg – and Surry County, an otherwise right-leaning area across the river from Jamestown – also landed in Jones’ lap on Election Night . New Kent County — where Jones was previously cited for driving 116 mph — remained in outgoing Attorney General Jason Miyares’ favor. But, across the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel on the Eastern Shore, rural Northampton County also went for Jones -- while its adjacent counterpart Accomack stayed in Miyares’ hands. The overall trend in that region depicted Jones’ neighbors as a big part of his victory Tuesday. Meanwhile, in Democratic-friendly northern Virginia, turnout margins for Republicans appeared anemic compared to 2021, when Youngkin and Miyares won their upsets. Ticket-splitting in the Washington exurbs appeared to help Jones as well as the increasing population density fed by federal workers and others creating ever-distant bedroom communities of Washington, D.C. As Washington, D.C.’s population expands south and west, nearby counties like Stafford and Spotsylvania — as well as Loudoun, Fauquier and Clarke — have trended sharply toward Democrats. ABIGAIL SPANBERGER SEALS HISTORIC VIRGINIA WIN, ENDING…