Susanna Gibson, a Democrat, was once seen as a possible favorite in her race to win Virginia's 57th district. Now, she might be lucky to come within 10 points. 

For those unacquainted, Gibson was embroiled in a scandal recently after it was revealed that she conducted online porn shows for money. Some of her videos included forcing unwitting hotel staff to appear in them. 

When the news broke, Democrats immediately circled the wagons. Top Virginia Democrat Louise Lucas responded by accusing Glenn Youngkin of "leaking" the videos. Of course, that's ridiculous given that Gibson uploaded the videos herself. Accusations of "revenge porn" were also levied, though again, those made no sense because it was Gibson who released the videos. 

To make matters worse, it was revealed that the Associated Press was offered the story and instead chose to bury it while also alerting Gibson to its existence. As they say, it's good to be a Democrat, at least as far as press interactions are concerned. 

But while Gibson may have thought should could power through, she received some very bad news on Tuesday evening. A poll has been conducted in her district, and she's trailing by a whopping 10 points. 

A Democratic candidate for the Virginia legislature who was caught performing sex acts with her husband for “tips” during online webcam shows is down more than 10 percentage points among likely voters in her district, according to a poll conducted after the scandal surfaced.

Susanna Gibson, who is running to represent the 57th district in the Old Dominion’s House of Delegates, trails Republican David Owen by 49.5% to 38.9%, a Cygnal poll exclusively obtained by The Post shows.

Let me just say this: Glenn Youngkin does not miss. I don't know if he was specifically behind the highlighting of the videos, but it certainly appears that the opposition research came from within his orbit, and it's been devastating. Virginia Republicans are trying to retake the legislature in November of 2023, and Gibson losing opens up that possibility even further. 

Yeah, Youngkin isn't bombastic, but he's calculated, and he's managed to exert his will in what was a deep blue state just a couple of years ago. He's also managed to continually keep Democrats on the defensive. 

Think about all that has transpired. Youngkin got his far-left opponents to defend child rape because it conflicted with the transgender agenda (i.e., the Loudoun County scandal that turned the 2021 election). Now, he's got those same opponents defending amateur porn. 

That's how you win elections. You constantly put the referendum on the other side because if you are explaining, you are losing. Youngkin does that with extreme efficiency, and Republicans would do well to elevate him down the road. It's not just about him being a conservative (he is). It's about him obviously knowing how to play the game. Ruthless competency in the GOP is hard to come by these days.