Losing Lean D WV to Safe R would be bad, but they flipped VA from Safe R to Lean D in the process which is a net gain.
I have to say that it is fascinating to see what happened to WV and VA. It would be quite ironical if VA denied the GOP the presidency in 2016 after the former solid blue state WV denied the Dems the presidency in 2000. Regardless, I predict that by no later than 2024, both the WV Dems and the VA GOP will be extinct.
Right. That's why there is no democratic party in TX and LA, and no Republican Party in WA and MN. Or wait...
Well, of course they will continue to exist but that's not what I intended to say. The point is that they won't be able to win elections in their state anymore.
Do you mean that you expect even the VA House of Delegates to be Dem controlled by 2024? Because it is currently still 2:1 GOP. Of course, the WV state senate was 2:1 Dem last year and is now GOP controlled by 1 vote after someone switched parties to break the tie. So maybe VA Dems really could pick up 20+ suburban seats in one cycle the next time there is a Republican president, but an NY state senate situation where it is the last holdout for decades also seems quite possible. One of the most interesting points of the Bush-Obama era is how Republicans have been able to cement their gains from state trends into there column up and down the ballot in a way that Democrats thus far haven't.
