What Went Down On Election Night 2017

In Maine, Question 2 is up 58 percent to 42 percent, with 34 percent of precincts in. From the count I’ve been doing, in 23 cities and towns, the ballot measure is outperforming Clinton’s 2016 performance. She won the state by around 3 percentage points. In 16 cities and towns, the ballot measure is underperforming Clinton. So there is still plenty of counting left to do, but the ballot measure is on track to pass.

Conservative pundits are arguing that a) Gillespie should have been more embracing of Trump and that b) Trump should have enacted more of his agenda. This seems unlikely. Trump is pretty toxic right now, and for him to have signed bills that are even less popular than he is probably would have made things even worse for GOP candidates today.

2020 is a census year, and that means that from now until then, there is an added layer of meaning to some state elections: Which party will be in control of redistricting in 2021? States redraw their congressional and state legislative districts every 10 years, after the census is conducted. In most states, the state legislature draws the maps, and the governor approves them. Virginia’s district maps are widely considered to be gerrymandered in favor of Republicans. According to the efficiency gap measure (which, yes, has flaws), both its congressional and state legislative maps show a bias. We don’t know yet which party will be in control of Virginia’s General Assembly after the 2020 election, but after tonight, we do know that the state will have a Democratic governor. At the very least, Gov. Northam will be able to veto district maps that disadvantage Democrats. If Democrats control the General Assembly after 2020, they might be able to gerrymander in their own favor.