As a blue state with Republican power over elections, Virginia draws GOP attention

Source: USA Today

Published 5:05 a.m. ET Nov. 2, 2024 | Updated 7:45 a.m. ET Nov. 2, 2024


Former President Donald Trump and his allies keep saying Republicans can win Virginia. “Virginia is in play,” said Jeff Ryer, the Virginia spokesman for Trump’s campaign. “President Trump and Team Trump know Virginia is a battleground, which is among the reasons why President Trump will be holding a rally here on Saturday. ... Virginia is within the margin-of-error.” It’s a position that raises some eyebrows in political circles.

Joe Biden won Virginia by 10 percentage points in 2020. The state has voted for a Democrat in the last four presidential elections. Polling shows Kamala Harris on track to win the state’s 12 electoral votes by at least a five-point margin. But far-right personalities are spreading unfounded allegations of voter fraud in Virginia. And local election officials in at least one county are already arguing they shouldn’t have to certify the election results.

Meanwhile, Gov. Glenn Youngkin and Attorney General Jason Miyares, both Republicans, successfully convinced the U.S. Supreme Court to allow them to purge 1,600 suspected noncitizens from the voter rolls just days before the election. “Trump’s average here with the voters is around 44%,” said Neil Newhouse, who co-founded a polling firm in Virginia. “He gets no higher than 46% in any poll that’s been conducted and released to the public. It is a steep, steep, steep climb for President Trump to win the state.”

Virginia differs from many of the states expected to go for Harris in one important way: There is significant Republican influence over the way its elections are run, because it has a Republican governor, a Republican attorney general, a Republican majority on its State Election Board, and Republican majorities on its local election boards.

Read more: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/elections/2024/11/02/trump-youngkin-virginia-win/75906746007/