As final vote totals continue to trickle in, some of the contours of the election are emerging from the numbers.
Senator Tim Kaine's margin of victory was almost double the margin of victory for Kamala Harris in Virginia, which seems to indicate some cross-party voting. Former Virginia Democratic Party Chairman Ken Plum says Kaine had more of an opportunity to make an impression.
"He's a nice guy. He even plays the harmonica. So, a lot of people know him in a friendly context," Plum says. "Kamala Harris at the same time was burdened by the fact that she got the nomination, as we all know, very late in the game and had less time to make herself known. She wasn't able to go to Southwest Virginia and spend some time."
Jeff Ryer is spokesman for the Trump campaign in Virginia, and he says Kaine’s Senate challenger – Hung Cao – struggled to raise enough money to be competitive.
"I don't think it should come as a tremendous surprise considering the spending disparity between the Kaine and the Cao campaigns," Ryer explains. "Cao was consistently at a deficit as far as funding, so even solid Republican voters might not have been familiar with him. And the television that he did have came up well after early voting had already started, which also would’ve put him in a deficit."
One more thing about this election season, it's not over yet. Two members of the state Senate were elected to Congress this week, which means two special elections for Senate seats, one in Northern Virginia and the other in the Richmond suburbs.
This report, provided by Virginia Public Radio, was made possible with support from the Virginia Education Association.
