Semafor: “Virginia’s Nov. 7 elections, known colloquially as the commonwealth’s ‘off-off-off year’ races, will determine whether Youngkin has a majority that can pass conservative bills. His Spirit of Virginia PAC has raised more than $16 million to make that happen; he’s recruited and campaigned with candidates to demolish what Democrats call the ‘blue wall,’ a four-seat Senate majority that’s stymied him.”
“Republicans are running on what worked in 2021, much of it under the ‘parental rights’ umbrella, when the Loudoun controversy and a cash-flush campaign delivered the biggest GOP victory of the Biden era.”
“But Democrats say that the Dobbs decision changed everything. In 2022, they defended two of the three House seats that Youngkin’s GOP was targeting thanks to their resilience in the suburbs; in January, they flipped a state senate seat in Virginia Beach after warning that Youngkin could pass a 15-week abortion limit if the ‘blue wall’ fell. Zooming out to the national landscape, Republicans have not been able to replicate Youngkin’s formula in battleground races in the midterms or subsequent elections either.”
