When Donald Trump is no longer in the White House, what will the future of the Republican Party look like?
Looking beyond the politics of 2020 and even beyond the inauguration of Joe Biden as the next president, what does the future of the Republican Party look like after Donald Trump is no longer in the White House?
Stephen Farnsworth at the University of Mary Washington says Virginia's statewide primary in June will offer a revealing look.
"The eyes of the nation will be on the Virginia nomination for governor on the Republican side next year," he explains. "It will be the first real test statewide of how effective the Trump message is once Trump is no longer president."
Quentin Kidd at Christopher Newport University says the rising influence of populism in Republican Party can be traced from Ken Cuccinelli and E.W. Jackson to Corey Stewart and now Amanda Chase.
"I think this is sort of Season Four of the kind of struggle that the Virginia Republican Party has had when it comes to statewide races for a while now," Kidd says.
In other words: will the race for governor be something closer to the Trump Show with Amanda Chase? Or will it be a rerun of nostalgia for an earlier era with Kirk Cox?
This report, provided by Virginia Public Radio, was made possible with support from the Virginia Education Association.
