Virginia’s tight race for governor goes down to the wire as polls close

From a distance, the percentages appeared stacked in Democrats’ favor this yr. McAuliffe was a preferred governor when he left workplace in 2018, like all governors prohibited by the state’s structure from looking for a second consecutive time period. His lieutenant governor, Ralph Northam (D), gained the highest job in a landslide and, working with a brand new majority within the Basic Meeting, has presided over sweeping modifications that typically appear common, from legalizing marijuana to abolishing the demise penalty and increasing entry to the vote.