Tuesday Was a Gut Punch, but Virginia Is Not Lost - and Here's Why

I was in New York City with a friend on 9/11. Four days after the terrorist attack, we rented a car for the long trek home, deciding to take I-81 instead of I-95 to avoid the Washington, D.C. area.

Along our route back to North Carolina was the Shenandoah Valley in Virginia, which literally was a breath of fresh air and a sight for sore eyes after everything that had happened that week.

When we hit I-77 (I think?) for the rest of the route home to Charlotte, it made me a little sad that we couldn't spend more time in the commonwealth, because in many ways, Virginia felt like a kindred spirit to this born-and-raised southern girl, who remembered stories mom had told about visiting family across the border when she had been a teenager.

I'm not gonna lie - what happened Tuesday was like a gut punch, a sentiment expressed well by my RedState colleague, Teri Christoph, who has been right in the thick of the good fight in her home state, trying to keep the conservative momentum rolling after the Youngkin/Sears/Miyares red wave sweep in 2021.

You look lovely in red, Virginia. Signed, your proud neighbors next door in NC. #vagov #ncpol pic.twitter.com/vVaIMouUvS
— Sister Toldjah 💙 (@sistertoldjah) November 3, 2021

But it wasn't meant to be in 2025, a cold reality made worse by the fact that a majority among those who voted elected to put a man who fantasized about killing a former GOP colleague, and the man's children dying in his wife's arms, in the attorney general's office.

Though that was surprising, it was hardly shocking considering how the assassination of conservative icon Charlie Kirk and the left's despicable and ghoulish reactions to it cleared up any lingering doubts that may have existed in the minds of some about just where conservatives stood with modern leftists.

But though the situation may seem dire in Virginia, all hope should not be lost. Because though the state has become the problem child of the South in recent election cycles, she usually finds her way back:

It is really funny that Virginia voters do this every 4 years: https://t.co/DxW83uOo1X pic.twitter.com/5FMlgrtBdu
— Jaron Zhou (@ZhouJaron) November 5, 2025

Republican Rep. Jen Kiggans (VA-02), whose district is being targeted by Democrats in their redistricting scheme, shared a similar assessment on Thursday:

If there’s one thing I’ve learned about politics since I won my first election in 2019, the pendulum swings…sometimes too much, especially here in Virginia. Look at what happened just one year ago- Republicans swept the country and now have a [trifecta] in federal government. This year Democrats swept key races and have a super-majority in Richmond. The pendulum will swing again which sets Republicans up for success next year, when I am back on the ballot. Keep watch Virginia…. Elections have consequences. And don’t forget that commonsense will prevail and we are not California or NYC! Stay tuned…

Virginia is indeed not NYC, nor California, nor New Jersey. That's a crucial point to make in all of this. But she is a state prone to purplish-blue tendencies when left unchecked, and when NoVa Democrats decide that a temper tantrum is warranted (which is often).

But the right candidates, the right ground game, and a consistent message from start to finish can make all the difference in the world, even without President Trump being on the ballot, something we saw in 2021 in Virginia and something we saw here in North Carolina in 2022 when we experienced our own red wave in a midterm election year where the GOP gains nationally fell far short of expectations.

Don't give up on Virginia. She's worth rescuing and must be rescued and protected if the South wants to effectively continue to hold the line against Woke Inc. and all its many deranged incarnations.

Editor's note: This article was updated post-publication for clarity. Kiggans is a U.S. Congresswoman, not a member of the House of Delegates.

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