{"id":2099759,"date":"2023-11-15T14:31:02","date_gmt":"2023-11-15T19:31:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/heres-the-silver-lining-in-last-weeks-virginia-elections-democrats-dont-want-you-to-know-about\/"},"modified":"2023-11-15T14:35:19","modified_gmt":"2023-11-15T19:35:19","slug":"heres-the-silver-lining-in-last-weeks-virginia-elections-democrats-dont-want-you-to-know-about","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/heres-the-silver-lining-in-last-weeks-virginia-elections-democrats-dont-want-you-to-know-about\/","title":{"rendered":"The hidden positive outcome of Virginia&#8217;s recent elections that Democrats don&#8217;t want you to know."},"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\">30<\/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%2Fheres-the-silver-lining-in-last-weeks-virginia-elections-democrats-dont-want-you-to-know-about%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=2099759&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--><div class=\"article-content\">\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Virginia Republicans&#8217; Lesson in Early Voting<\/h2>\n<blockquote>\n<p>The outcome of last week\u2019s state legislative elections in Virginia was\u200c a major disappointment\u200c for Republicans. Not only did Democrats maintain control of the Senate; they also took\u200d control of the House of Delegates, effectively stymying GOP Gov. Glenn Youngkin\u2019s conservative agenda\u2064 for the\u2064 remainder of his term.<\/p>\n<p>Despite last week\u2019s electoral defeats, there was, however, \u200bone significant development that Republicans throughout the country should take heed of \u2063if they want to remain competitive in future elections.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>In the months leading up to the Nov. 7 contest, Youngkin,\u2062 along with organizations such as the Republican\u200b Party of Virginia (RPV) and \u2063Republican State Leadership Committee (RSLC), made a major push for \u200cGOP\u200c voters to cast \u2062their ballots\u200c early prior to Election Day. RPV Chair Rich Anderson previously told The Federalist that\u2062 the initiative \u2062represented a \u201ccultural shift for us \u2063as a\u2064 party\u201d and emphasized how Republicans can\u2019t afford to \u201cgo into our elections down thousands of votes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>While Virginia Republicans \u2062ultimately didn\u2019t \u2063come out\u200c on top in last week\u2019s elections, their emphasis on\u2062 absentee and in<a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wapo-fact-checker-biden-misled-about-georgia-election-law-it-expands-voting-opportunities-for-most-georgians\/\" title=\"WaPo Fact Checker: Biden Misled About Georgia Election Law, It Expands Voting Opportunities For Most Georgians\">-person early voting<\/a> (AB\/EV) appears to have won\u200d them several pivotal races and\u200c limited what could have been much larger\u200c Democrat \u200dmajorities in\u2063 the General Assembly.<\/p>\n<p>According to a\u200b Nov. 9 press release, the RSLC and Virginia Republicans\u2019 push for EV\/AB \u201csecured 26% of [the former\u2019s<a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/heres-the-silver-lining-in-last-weeks-virginia-elections-democrats-dont-want-you-to-know-about\/\" title=\"The hidden positive outcome of Virginia's recent elections that Democrats don't want you to know.\">] target universe \u2063turnout goal heading<\/a> into Election Day and\u2063 converted <strong>twice<\/strong> as many low-propensity\u200c voters as [it] had set out to\u2063 do.\u201d Overall, these efforts\u200c \u201cincreased AB\/EV by 5.5% \u2062when compared to 2021,\u201d the same year Republicans swept races for governor, lieutenant governor, and attorney general, and took control of the House of Delegates.<\/p>\n<p>Among the key races \u200dreportedly affected by the RSLC and Virginia\u2062 Republicans\u2019 initiative was House District 89, where Republican N. Baxter Ennis defeated\u2062 Democrat Karen Jenkins by\u2064 fewer than 600 votes. According to \u2063the RSLC, Republicans\u2019 AB\/EV initiative \u201cproduced 1,593 absentee and early votes\u201d \u200din the district. Similarly successful results \u200cwere also recorded in Senate District \u206327, where Republican Tara Durant defeated Democrat Joel Griffin by\u200d roughly 1,250 votes. The RSLC and \u200dVirginia Republicans\u2019 efforts purportedly netted \u201c3,735 absentee \u200band \u200bearly votes with 1,613 of those votes coming from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/gov-desantis-calls-for-change-at-the-rnc\/\" title=\"Gov. DeSantis Calls for Change at the RNC\">low-propensity voters<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Other close races where the GOP\u2019s absentee and early voting campaign appears \u2063to have pushed Republican \u2063candidates \u2062over the finish line include House Districts 22, \u200d57, and 82, and Senate District\u2063 24.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWithout our AB\/EV efforts, Virginia Republicans would likely be\u200b sitting \u200cat a 45-55 House of Delegates and\u2063 a 17-23 Senate,\u201d\u2064 the RSLC press release reads. Unofficial\u2062 results \u200bindicate\u200b that \u2062Virginia Democrats will have a one-seat majority\u200c in both the House (51-49) and Senate (21-19) at the beginning of next year, although the questionable eligibility of a Democrat Senate candidate to run in the\u2063 district \u200dshe won could potentially shake up control of the upper chamber.<\/p>\n<p>Despite facing a redistricted map favorable\u200c to Democrats, Virginia\u2019s 2023 GOP candidates reportedly \u200doutperformed the margins set by\u200c the party\u2019s candidates in the 2020 federal elections. According to\u200d the\u2063 RSLC, 14 of Virginia\u2019s 20 \u2063\u201cmost contested\u201d \u200cstate legislative districts \u2014 19 of which were\u2064 won by Joe\u2062 Biden in 2020 \u2014 favored Democrats \u201cby an average of 4.2%\u201d following redistricting. Yet, \u201ceven with this imbalance, [Virginia\u2019s 2023 GOP candidates] overperformed the 2020 GOP \u200dticket in every \u200ddistrict by more than 5%, averaging 10.4% across the board,\u201d and overperformed 2020 Republican\u200b candidates by an \u200daverage of\u200b 11 percent in districts where the 2023 candidates lost.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Why \u200dIt Matters<\/h2>\n<p>While\u2063 Virginia \u2062Republicans didn\u2019t\u200b sweep last week\u2019s elections, their use of \u2063early \u200cand absentee voting to gain votes \u200bin the face of a slanted map should serve as a lesson \u200dfor Republicans nationwide. With\u2064 Democrats\u2019 voter registration and mail-in \u200cvoting operations banking them thousands of votes ahead of Election Day, Republicans cannot afford to \u2062continue\u200d to \u200dfight with both hands \u2064tied behind their backs.<\/p>\n<p>While embracing the left\u2019s insecure\u200c voting practices\u200d goes against\u200c the \u201cnorm\u201d of the GOP\u2019s election strategy \u2014 \u200cwhich focuses on \u200cElection Day turnout \u200b\u2014 doing so \u200din states where they \u200cdon\u2019t have the power to pass tighter election \u200dintegrity laws is essential to remaining \u200dcompetitive at the \u200bballot \u200dbox. Republicans can and should highlight the insecurities\u2062 and\u200c risks associated \u2063with Democrats\u2019 lax voting policies. But passing\u2063 laws that enshrine integrity in elections requires gaining the political power to implement them.<\/p>\n<p>If Republicans want to change the\u200b rules of\u2063 the game, they must be willing to play by \u200bthe ones Democrats created first.<\/p>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\">\n<\/div>\n<p> <\/p>\n<h2> What advantages does early voting offer for political campaigns \u200band how \u200cdid\u2062 Republicans leverage those advantages in Virginia?<\/h2>\n<p><span>  Iversity candidate could potentially impact \u2064those numbers.<\/p>\n<p>The success of the GOP\u2019s \u2064early voting campaign in Virginia provides \u200ca valuable lesson for Republicans across the country. By focusing \u200con absentee and \u200bin-person early voting, the party \u200cwas able to secure crucial votes and prevent larger Democratic majorities in the \u200cstate legislature.<\/p>\n<p>Early voting\u200b offers several \u200cadvantages for political campaigns. First, it allows for a longer\u200c period of\u200c engagement with voters, giving candidates more time to make their case and persuade\u2062 undecided voters. It also provides\u200c an opportunity\u200d to\u2063 identify and target low-propensity voters who\u2064 may\u200d not have otherwise participated in the election. By encouraging these voters to cast their ballots early, Republicans were able to increase turnout and secure key victories in\u2062 closely\u2063 contested races.<\/p>\n<p>The success of the GOP\u2019s early voting campaign\u200c in Virginia is particularly noteworthy given the state\u2019s recent shift towards Democrats. In the 2020\u200c presidential election, Virginia voted for Joe Biden, and Democrats have made significant gains in recent state and local elections. Despite this challenging political landscape, Republicans were able to leverage early voting to their advantage.<\/p>\n<p>Republicans throughout the country should take note of this\u2062 strategy and \u200cincorporate it into their own campaigns. With the increasing popularity of early voting, it is essential for parties to adapt and make early voting a central aspect of their electoral strategies. By\u2063 doing\u200b so, Republicans can increase turnout, secure crucial votes, and remain competitive\u2064 in future elections.<\/p>\n<p>It is also important to recognize the cultural shift\u2064 that this emphasis on early voting represents for the Republican Party. Traditionally, Republicans have been more skeptical of early voting, seeing it as potentially susceptible to fraud. However, the success in Virginia demonstrates the importance of \u200dembracing new strategies and adapting to the changing\u2064 political \u2063landscape.<\/p>\n<p>In conclusion, the outcome of the Virginia state legislative elections may have been a disappointment for Republicans, but their\u200b emphasis\u200b on early voting offers a valuable lesson. By focusing on absentee and in-person early voting, Republicans were able to secure key victories and limit Democratic majorities in the state legislature.\u2063 This success should \u2062serve as a wake-up call for Republicans throughout the country to prioritize early voting and incorporate it into \u200dtheir own campaign strategies. By doing so, they can increase turnout, secure crucial votes, and remain competitive in future elections.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>a silver lining for Republicans. The party managed to secure a few key victories in local races, providing hope for future elections. However, the overall results underscored the growing influence of Democrats in Virginia and the challenges that lie ahead for the GOP in regaining control.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":539,"featured_media":2099760,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","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":[546],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2099759","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-federalist"],"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\/2099759","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\/539"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2099759"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2099759\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2099760"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2099759"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2099759"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2099759"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}