>
Article snippet: Democrat Ralph Northam's Tuesday night routing of Republican Ed Gillespie to become the next governor of Virginia has significant national implications.Here are five takeaways from Democrats' big night.Reinvigorated Democrats score their first big Trump-era victoryDemocrats are back from the dead.Downtrodden liberals finally had a night to celebrate after a year of abysmal electoral returns that started with President Trump’s shocking White House upset and dragged on through several high-profile special-election losses in 2017.A Northam loss MORE carried Virginia by 5 points in 2016 and Democrats have grown accustomed to winning statewide races there.But the polls tightened significantly in the race’s final days, making Democrats nervous in the final push. The fear of yet another crushing disappointment may have helped drive Democrats to the polls. They overcame the rain and the cold — conditions that typically favor Republicans.It was a strong race from start to finish for Northam.He soundly defeated a more liberal challenger in the primary, although Democrats were brightened by the fact that the race didn’t devolve into a proxy war between Hillary Clinton and Sen. Tuesday’s outcome. The victory is also a big one for Democratic National Committee chairman on Tuesday were a “referendum” on the Trump administration.The president disagreed. Pro-Trump Republicans joined the president in venting their anger at the establishment for Gillespie’s failure.“On Tuesday,... Link to the full article to read more