Updated | The Virginia gubernatorial race is proving to be a fascinating proxy for national trends as an ally of Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren was defeated on Tuesday, and a Trump-style nationalist came close to defeating the mainstream, better financed Republican front runner.
Interestingly, though, neither Northam nor Perriello is as true-blue Democrat as the campaign might have led voters to believe.
"It is time for us to get back on offense and stop playing so much defense", Northam said.
Swing-state Virginia is one of only two states electing governors this year, and the contest is expected to provide clues for how voters will react in the 2018 midterm elections nationwide.
At Northam's event in Arlington, there were cheers and high fives as news spread that he had been declared the victor.
In Virginia, voters can vote in either gubernatorial primary, regardless of party affiliation.
"I trust his leadership".
Northam is lieutenant governor of Virginia and a pediatric neurologist at the Children's Specialty Group in Norfolk. "He cares for everyone". Tim Kaine and Mark Warner - Northam was considered the party's presumed nominee before Perriello's surprise entry into the race in January.
Gillespie will face Democratic Lt. Gov. Ralph Northam in November, in what is likely to be the most-watched contest of the 2017 election season.
Perriello pledged in his concession speech to help Northam and said his campaign had shown that a "movement" is "rising up".
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Statewide, the race between Reeves and Vogel was also within 2 percentage points at the Virginia Gazette's deadline. Frank Wagner, a senator in the commonwealth's legislature, trailed in third place.
Gillespie is backed by most of the state party establishment and has focused on pocketbook issues, including proposing a modest cut to the state's income tax rate.
Gillespie dominated his challengers in fundraising efforts. Democrats - Perriello in particular - made much of the campaign a referendum on President Trump. Looking at county-level maps of the two races, Perriello's campaign manager, Brennan Gilmore, noted that his candidate-whose old congressional district included a rural area around Charlottesville-won numerous same interior counties as Stewart. Those with more moderate views with the GOP stayed home. She couldn't immediately be reached for comment late Tuesday but has promised to put "principle over party" and has called for a ban on gifts to politicians and redistricting reform.
"When you look at the campaign the Democrats are running, they constantly seek to divide us".
Another top GOP strategist cast the Virginia results as "horrible news" for those lukewarm toward Trump past year.
Also driving the prediction of Gillespie's win was Stewart's embrace of Confederate symbols, which cost him the support of some longtime GOP allies and colleagues. "As delegate, I will hold him accountable for his actions".
Northam says he's running for governor "to build on Virginia's economic progress and defend our values against those who want to take us back". He said he expects the party to unite against Gillespie in order to keep Northam out of the Executive Mansion.
Vogel, 46, is the managing partner of a law firm specializing in campaign finance and ethics issues.
For the Democrats, former Assistant U.S. Attorney Justin Fairfax earned the right to run for Lt. Governor by more than 40,000 votes over challengers Susan Platt and Gene Rossi.
"We have changed the conversation here in Virginia and elevated the voices of those who have been left out of the political conversation for too long", Perriello said, pointing specifically to his calls for a $15 minimum wage and a "clean energy future" that doesn't include new natural-gas pipelines.
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