{"id":1730984,"date":"2022-11-09T00:18:28","date_gmt":"2022-11-09T05:18:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1730984"},"modified":"2022-11-09T00:18:31","modified_gmt":"2022-11-09T05:18:31","slug":"mixed-bag-in-virginia-house-races-as-2021s-rightward-swing-does-not-advance-on-all-fronts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/mixed-bag-in-virginia-house-races-as-2021s-rightward-swing-does-not-advance-on-all-fronts\/","title":{"rendered":"Mixed Bag In Virginia House Races As 2021\u2019s Rightward Swing Does Not Advance On All Fronts"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">32<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fmixed-bag-in-virginia-house-races-as-2021s-rightward-swing-does-not-advance-on-all-fronts%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1730984&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>WOODBRIDGE, VIRGINIA \u2014 The red wave of 2022 ran ashore before it reached the elevated suburbs around Washington, D.C., inhabited by well-heeled lawyers, government contractors, and bureaucrats.<\/p>\n<p>In these low-crime, affluent suburbs, residents may be insulated from the inflation and crime felt by much of the country. But Republicans were energized after they moved rightward in 2021 following prolonged school closures, implemented by Democrats at the behest of their teachers union backers \u2014 culminating in the election of Republican Governor Glenn Youngkin that year.<\/p>\n<p>Republican Yesli Vega, a law enforcement officer and the daughter of Salvadoran immigrants, received 48% compared to 52% for Abigail Spanberger, a former CIA officer who positioned herself as a moderate Democrat, in Virginia\u2019s seventh congressional district, perceived as a national bellwether.<\/p>\n<p>In Loudoun County, the national capital of the school culture wars, Democrat Jennifer Wexton prevailed with 53% over against immigrant and combat veteran Hung Cao, a Republican. The seat was long in Republican hands until Wexton snatched it from Barbara Comstock, a moderate Republican, in 2018.<\/p>\n<p>However, further from D.C. in Virginia Beach, Republicans took back a congressional seat from a Democrat after far-left ideology made its way into the schools of a military town. State Sen. Jen Kiggans ousted two-term incumbent Elaine Luria \u2014 a member of the House\u2019s January 6 committee \u2014\u00a052% to 48% in the second congressional district. J. Miles Coleman, a political analyst with Sabato\u2019s Crystal Ball, in September described the district as the<a href=\"https:\/\/www.13newsnow.com\/article\/news\/politics\/elaine-luria-jen-kiggans-winning-chances-virginia-2nd-district\/291-20a0e968-617a-4e27-9c38-9434c8241934\"> exact median<\/a> of the 435 House seats, calling it \u201cthe Florida of Virginia.\u201d Youngkin carried the district with 55% in his 2021 victory.<\/p>\n<p>The failure for Republicans to win D.C. suburbs is not surprising. Sabato\u2019s Crystal Ball had predicted that while all three seats were in play, Luria\u2019s seat was a true \u201ctoss-up,\u201d while Spanberger\u2019s \u201cleans Democratic,\u201d and Wexton\u2019s would \u201clikely\u201d remain in Democrat hands. Non-political forces also impacted the area. The continuous concentration of wealth and jobs around the political capital has led to rural voters being displaced by more numerous urban ones living in newly-constructed dense housing. Decennial redistricting also changed the boundaries of some districts.<\/p>\n<p>Still, the results call into question whether the backlash to the school shutdowns of 2020 and 2021, along with other educational controversies like Critical Race Theory and parental rights in schools, consisted of traditional Democrat voters sending a one-time message before reverting to old patterns, or whether the schools issue could lead to a lasting recalibration in the suburbs.<\/p>\n<p>In 2018, Spanberger defeated Republican Dave Brat, who had in turn previously knocked out House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, a fellow Republican, after running to his right in the primary. It was a sign that the district was willing to elect members of either major party, as long as they were not too far from the center.<\/p>\n<p>That left Spanberger in a precarious position as the center of gravity in her party moved increasingly to the left. After Democrats\u2019 poor showing in 2020 House races, Spanberger <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/news\/report-congresswoman-unloads-over-failure-in-house-elections-no-one-should-say-defund-the-police-ever-again\">unloaded<\/a> on her fellow Democrats: \u201cNo one should say <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/news\/red-vs-blue-as-dems-deny-defunding-the-police-major-cities-police-forces-are-at-record-lows\">\u2018defund the police\u2019<\/a> ever again\u2026 Nobody should be talking about socialism.\u201d She said if her fellow Democrats did not move away from the fringe, they would \u201cget f****** torn apart\u201d in November 2022.<\/p>\n<p>Shortly before then, Spanberger faced backlash for campaigning with a state delegate, Elizabeth Guzman, who pledged to introduce a bill that could allow teachers to call Child Protective Services on parents who did not affirm their child as transgender, subjecting them to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/news\/virginia-democrat-bill-would-criminally-prosecute-parents-who-dont-affirm-their-kids-as-transgender\">criminal charges<\/a>. Spanberger said she would not support Guzman\u2019s bill, but she also dropped out of a debate against Vega, in what Vega said was an attempt to avoid being pinned down on her position on parental rights.<\/p>\n<p>In Woodbridge, Virginia, near where Vega held her election watch event, inflation and taxes were front of mind. At a barbeque joint filled with Hispanic workers, a sign on the front door railed against Democrats who \u201cjust added an Additional 4% Tax on Food while Inflation is Running Rampant!\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Santos Parada, a teacher, said he believed many older Hispanics supported Vega because of the economy, but that the same did not apply for younger Hispanics. And upper-middle class white women were repelled from Republicans because of the abortion issue, he said, adding that Vega should have fended off attacks by making clear that she shared Youngkin\u2019s moderate position.<\/p>\n<p>Vanessa Athena, a mother of two, said, \u201cThey were mad about parents rights, but then they made abortion a thing.\u201d She said younger voters may have been groomed to have left-leaning politics by ideological school environments \u2014 though Parada said he believed social media was the larger influence on young voters.<\/p>\n<p>One attendee at the Vega event, who did not want to be named because he works for a liberal employer, said, \u201cThe analysis is, this is the swamp. This is the D.C. area the rest<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Republicans took a Virginia Beach seat from a Democrat, but failed to take two longer-shot districts near D.C.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":128,"featured_media":1730987,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[541],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1730984","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-daily-wire"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1730984","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/128"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1730984"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1730984\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1730987"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1730984"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1730984"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1730984"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}