What Went Down During The 2021 Elections

This thread was illuminating, in my very humble opinion.

It’s still fascinating to me that exit polls so far show that Youngkin was able to successfully about to win groups that traditionally support the GOP (e.g. white voters, older voters and Trump supporters) while also making inroads among some groups that tend to lean Democratic, like women.

Based on analysis of the vote, ABC News projects that the Republican Winsome Sears will win the Virginia lieutenant governorship. As I mentioned earlier, her win is notable, in part, because she makes history as the first Black woman and woman of color to serve in the post.

In Virginia, I think an underrated angle is the continuation of education polarization. Looking at the shifts by county from the 2020 presidential election, it seems like the broad Trump-era realignment by education continued tonight, just with a fairly uniform shift to the right among all types of counties. Youngkin gained ground throughout the state: in highly educated suburban counties outside D.C., but also in rural and urban counties elsewhere. One interesting example is suburban Loudoun County — although McAuliffe is doing about 5 points worse statewide than he did in 2013, he’s doing about 7 points better in Loudoun.