Analysis: Virginia's election serves as a road map for 2018 congressional races [View all]

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In Virginia, a road map for 2018, via @pkcapitol

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Analysis | Virginia’s election serves as a road map for 2018 congressional races

By Paul Kane November 4 at 5:34 PM

A year out from the 2018 midterm elections, the two major parties are furiously cramming to learn everything they can about the nation’s political climate in Virginia, home to Tuesday’s hotly contested governor’s race and several congressional battleground contests next year.

Governors’ races are not a perfect match for gleaning the electoral mood in federal races a year from now, but Democrats and Republicans are monitoring key themes in Virginia — and they’re ready to adapt, depending on the outcome.

Regardless of the victors Tuesday, some national strategies have already come into focus. Democrats will try to paint Republican incumbents as the incompetent, dysfunctional leaders of a Congress that did not fulfill President Trump’s promise to focus on the “forgotten men and women” of the working class.
....

A Gillespie victory might suggest that {Senator Tim Kaine} is in more trouble than most expect in his likely contest against Trump supporter Corey Stewart, but he is not waiting for Tuesday’s results. ... “I’m running like I’m endangered — I’m an endangered species,” Kaine said. “I run all my races that way.”

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