Democrats promise swift action after win in Virginia

Incumbent Republican governor in Kentucky still hasn’t conceded.

Gov. Ralph

RICHMOND, VA. — Northam laid out his vision Wednesday for a changing Virginia a day after Democrats seized control of the General Assembly for the first time in more than two decades.

Northam, speaking at a Cabinet meeting, promised swift action on a host of liberal policy proposals, with a particular emphasis on gun control measures.

He said Democratic gains were largely powered by voters who wanted to see commonsense gun laws enacted and noted Republicans adjourned a special session earlier this year called in response to a mass shooting in Virginia Beach in less than 90 minutes “with no results.”

“The landscape has changed,” Northam said.

Democratic leaders say Virginians should also expect a higher minimum wage and greater abortion rights after their gains Tuesday. They also promised ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment, making Virginia the final state needed for possible passage of the gender equality measure.

Kentucky

Republican Gov. Matt Bevin asked Wednesday for a recanvass of Kentucky election results that showed him more than 5,000 votes behind Democrat Andy Beshear, who discounted the challenge and began preparing to take office.

Beshear, the state’s attorney general, said he’s confident in the election outcome, saying any review would show he won the hard-fought campaign.

“Whatever process that the governor chooses to go down, it’s not going to change this overall number of votes,” Beshear said at a news conference. With 100% of precincts reporting, Beshear led by a little over 5,000 votes out of more than 1.4 million counted, or a margin of less than 0.4 percentage points. That’s inside the margin that would trigger a recount in most states. The recanvass is scheduled for Nov. 14

Other states

Republicans captured the governor’s mansion in Mississippi as Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves defeated Attorney General Jim Hood by about 5 percentage points in an open-seat race that illustrated the enduring conservatismof the Deep South. The final governorship up for grabs in these off-year campaigns is in Louisiana, where Gov. John Bel Edwards, a Democrat, is facing reelection a week from Saturday.

In New Jersey, Republicans made legislative gains for the first time in a decade.

Why it matters

On a day of state and local elections that illustrated the country’s growing polarization, redstate Republicans sought to frame their campaigns as a test of loyalty to Trump while Democrats in more liberal states tied their opponents to the president.

Coming one year before the presidential election, the races reflected the country’s increasingly contentious politics and the widening rural-urban divide.

CARLOS BERNATE / NEW YORK TIMES Gov. Ralph Northam speaks to Democratic Party supporters as they celebrate winning control of the Virginia Legislature at an election night gathering in Richmond on Tuesday night. Control of Virginia’s government fell to Democrats for the first time in decades.