Democrat Ralph Northam Wins Virginia Governor Race, NBC News Projects
FAIRFAX, Va. — Democrat Ralph Northam defeated Republican Ed Gillespie in the Virginia governor race on Tuesday, according to an NBC News projection.
With 77 percent of the vote in, Northam had 52 percent and Gillespie trailed with 47 percent.
Both national parties spent millions of dollars in the first major election since President Donald Trump's surprise victory last year and were closely watching the outcome as an early barometer of the political climate ahead of next year's midterm contests.
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Northam, an Army veteran and pediatric neurologist who serves as the state's lieutenant governor, had sometimes struggled to highlight his ad-ready biography as the race descended into a nasty culture war.
He likely got a major boost from popular term-limited Democratic Gov. Terry McAuliffe, who handed his successor a strong economy and an electorate that tends to tell pollsters they believe the state is on the right track.
Gillespie, a former lobbyist and Republican National Committee chairman, responded to a near-loss in the GOP primary against a Trump-aligned challenger earlier this year by taking a hard right turn on immigration and Confederate monuments.
Health care was the top concern among Virginia voters, with 37 percent citing it as the most important issue to their vote, according to the NBC News exit poll.
That seemed to help Northam: A large majority of people who voted for him — 57 percent — said that health care was their No. 1 concern in the race, while Gillespie's voters turned out for a variety of reasons, including immigration and taxes.
Despite maintaining narrow lead in the polls, Democrats headed into election night with white knuckles, still shaken by Trump's stunning win last year.
Image: Democratic Gubernatorial Candidate Ralph Northam waves as he arrives to speak during a campaign rally
Democratic Gubernatorial Candidate Ralph Northam waves as he arrives to speak during a campaign rally in Richmond, Virginia on Oct/ 19, 2017. Jim Watson / AFP - Getty Images file
In New Jersey, Democrat Phil Murphy bested Republican Kim Guadagno in the governor's race, according to an NBC News projection — letting the door hit Gov. Chris Christie on his way out of office as one of the least popular governors in the country.
Both parties expected Murphy, a former Goldman Sachs executive and Obama-era ambassador to Germany, to prevail, largely because Christie's anemic 14 percent approval rating dragged down Guadagno, his lieutenant governor.
Guadagno struggled throughout the campaign to escape Christie's shadow, along with lingering questions about the Bridgegate scandal, although she saw some positive movement in recent polls after adopting a sharper tone on immigration that echoed President Donald Trump.
Murphy's victory gives Democrats complete control of New Jersey government, where Christie often battled with the opposition-controlled state Legislature. That makes the state one of just seven nationwide where Democrats now control the governor's mansion and both chambers of the legislature, compared to a whopping 26 for Republicans
