Va. candidates claim momentum

Gillespie, Northam spend one last day on campaign trail

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — Republican Ed Gillespie and Democrat Ralph Northam both claim momentum is on their side with one day to go before Election Day in Virginia’s high-stakes, closely watched race for governor.

The candidates are racing across the state Monday after a weekend spent trying to trying to rally supporters ahead of the Tuesday vote.

Northam felt strong enthusiasm from his supporters and said he was heartened by the high number of absentee votes that had been cast so far compared with four years ago, particularly in Democratic-leaning areas. Northam predicted turnout could be significantly higher than recent gubernatorial elections.

“Wemaygetwellover50percent, which would be real good for our party,” Northam said.

Gillespie told supporters at a rally Sunday that Republicans were set to sweep statewide races.

“We no longer just have momen- tum — we have the lead,” Gillespie said.

Virginia is one of only two states electing a new governor this year, and the contest is viewed by many as an early referendum on President Donald Trump.

Democrats are eager to prove they can harness anti-trump energy into success at the polls, while Republicans are looking to show they have a winning blueprint in a blue-leaning state. Most public polls have shown a close race to succeed Gov. Terry Mcauliffe, a Democrat who is term limited.

Northam, the state’s lieutenant governor, spent Saturday in voter-rich northern Virginia, where Democrats have run up huge leads in recent statewide elections.

“Do you all remember how you feltwhenyouwokeuponnovember the 9th of 2016?” Northam asked a group of canvassers in a supporter’s backyard in Ashburn, referring to the day after Trump won the presidential campaign. “We cannot take any chances and wake up like that again.”