Early voting gets underway in a month across Virginia for this year’s legislative elections, which will decide political control of the state’s currently divided General Assembly.
The election is set for Nov. 7, with early voting starting on Sept. 22.
“We’ve got a House of Delegates that we could take back or a Senate that we could lose,” said Virginia Sen. Mark Warner, a Democrat.
The Virginia House is currently controlled by the GOP with 49 Republicans, 46 Democrats and five vacancies.
Of the 40 seats, there are 22 Democrats and 18 Republicans in the Senate.
All 140 seats in the entire General Assembly will be on the ballot in November’s election.
Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin has made it clear that one of his main political priorities is to work toward flipping the Senate. In order to do that, Republicans would need to flip two seats currently held by Democrats.
That would force a 20-20 tie in the chamber that could be broken by Republican Lt. Gov. Winsome Sears.
“I think, at least, Virginia Democrats are not going to look kindly on anyone who doesn’t put all of their energy and resources into this year’s legislative races,” Warner said.
If the Republicans do flip the Senate in November, Youngkin would have the power to implement a more conservative agenda, including a ban on most abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy, which Youngkin has repeatedly said he would support.
“The Virginia legislative race is the most important election of the year,” Warner said, adding that he is trying to “beat the drum and bring a little more national attention to this race.”
Youngkin has been successful at raising money nationwide.
His main fundraising apparatus reported raising $5.75 million in this year’s second quarter, a sum that surpasses what any previous governor of the state has raised over an entire year.
“I do worry,” Warner said. “If a Republican governor is able to take both houses of the legislature, that ought to be setting off some alarm signals.”
Since his 2021 win in blue-trending Virginia captured the nation’s attention, speculation has swirled that Youngkin might launch a 2024 presidential bid.
In public remarks, he has declined to unequivocally rule a run out, but has answered questions about the prospect by saying his priority is flipping the state Senate and holding the House of Delegates.
When asked about Youngkin potentially running for president, Warner said he was “not going to comment on what the governor’s plans are.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
