Virginia voters push back hard on Trump administration efforts to reshape federal government

ARLINGTON Va AP Not everyone who voted in Northern Virginia in Tuesday s voting process has felt the impact of President Donald Trump s efforts to reshape the federal regime but even a great number of who haven t declared they have colleagues or neighbors who are dealing with the consequences I ve seen so a great number of federal families lose their jobs lose their income lose their certainty here announced Karina Valdez who voted at the Barcroft Sports Fitness Center in Arlington Valdez a -year-old mom who works at an elementary school explained she voted for Democratic candidates across the ballot adding her voice to a Democratic sweep of all statewide offices in the commonwealth that sent a blistering message to President Donald Trump and his party Abigail Spanberger elected as the state s first female governor ran on a promise to protect Virginia s financial market from the aggressive tactics of Trump s second administration which has culled the civil organization levied tariffs and shepherded a reconciliation bill curtailing the state s already fragile vitality care system An Associated Press analysis of Spanberger s double-digit win over Republican Lt Gov Winsome-Earle Sears proved a dramatic swing toward Democrats from four years ago when Republican Glenn Youngkin won the state s top office and from last November when Democrat Kamala Harris won Virginia by less than percentage points in the presidential race The AP Voter Poll an expansive survey of Tuesday s electorate unveiled that voters with a federal leadership worker or contractor in their household were likelier than other households to assistance Spanberger while a majority of Virginia voters explained their family s finances have been at least a little affected by federal governing body cuts under Trump Republicans acknowledge the blowback Even Youngkin acknowledged that the federal cabinet shutdown fueled quite a turnout the previous day People are going without paychecks They re worried about mortgages and rents he communicated reporters in Richmond on Wednesday They re worried about how they re going to feed their families The challenge of this authorities shutdown is real and I am incredibly understanding of that challenge for all Virginians And I think it is I think it caused quite quite a turnout the day prior Democratic House Speaker Don Scott disclosed the balloting was about more than federal jobs He noted that Democrats picked up roughly a dozen seats in Virginia s -member House of Delegates on Tuesday securing the party s largest majority in three decades We saw a little wave but we didn t see this doggone tsunami he mentioned Trump himself acknowledged the effects in his first populace appearance since Democrats swept governors races in Virginia and New Jersey won the New York mayor s race flipped two Population Function Commission seats in Georgia and won voter approval to redraw California s congressional district map to combat the president s partisan gerrymandering push elsewhere Speaking at the White House on Wednesday to Republican U S senators Trump called the shutdown a big factor negative in the shellacking and he urged lawmakers to end it Trump did not push for yielding to Democrats demands to extend premium subsidies for Affordable Care Act soundness insurance customers He urged Republican leaders to end the Senate filibuster so they won t need any Democratic votes to approve spending measures or anything else as long as the GOP retains its majority That may not be enough to appease several Virginia voters Various Spanberger supporters on Tuesday made clear they blame Republicans in Washington given GOP control of the White House and Capitol Hill They have the majority and they should be able to get something done Sherry Kohan a -year-old accountant reported at her Arlington polling place where the former Republican voted for Spanberger Voters explained they feel and see the effects Paul Capetanakis a -year-old restaurant owner cited the ripple effects of Trump s National Guard deployment in the nation s capital the shutdown and price hikes when explaining his votes for Spanberger and other Democrats I lost supposedly from the previous year he declared comparing this year s receipts with I m still doing okay but I could be doing much better Tuesday s voter poll ascertained that about in Virginia voters disclosed that their family s finances had been affected a lot or a little by federal leadership cuts this year About two-thirds of those voters supported Spanberger while about in voters who revealed they hadn t been affected by the cuts supported Winsome Earle-Sears the Republican nominee About two-thirds of voters who live in a household with a current federal employee or contractor voted for Spanberger compared with just over half of voters in households without a family member who works for the authorities Alonzie Scott who voted early in Arlington announced he retired in September from the Office of Naval Research in disagreement with new performance plans that would require him to faithfully execute the president s agenda When I saw that I described my bosses back then that I was going to retire Scott revealed I ve been working for years and it was just time to walk out the door Scott stated he d like to see the nation go down a better path and plans to volunteer with local politics as soon as he s able Northern Virginia swings to Democrats The swing toward Democrats was especially strong in Northern Virginia near Washington D C where numerous federal workers live Four years ago Democratic gubernatorial nominee Terry McAuliffe led suburban-exurban Loudoun County in by points Harris outpaced Trump there by points Spanberger s margin Tuesday was about points In Fairfax County McAuliffe led by Harris by and Spanberger by In Prince William Spanberger nearly doubled Democrats margin leading the county by points compared with for Harris McAuliffe led Youngkin there by points In southwest Virginia meanwhile a more rural heavily Republican area with a smaller federal leadership footprint Spanberger gained ground but typically by single digits Rebecca Wolfinger a -year-old vitality care worker disclosed the shutdown fallout was a key issue for her Everything that s been going on with the federal authorities and people losing jobs all over Arlington and other places in Virginia affected my vote a lot she disclosed I felt like the Republican candidate didn t show a lot of concern for people losing their jobs she disclosed Barrow informed from Washington Diaz revealed from Richmond Associated Press reporters Josh Boak and Will Weissert contributed from Washington Source