The monumental 2024 elections were just nine weeks ago, and many voters are still catching their breath after an overwhelming season of casting ballots, seeing campaign ads, reading polls, watching debates, and scrolling through social media feeds.
There is, however, no rest for the weary: The first closely watched elections of 2025 are already upon us, and NBC News reported on the results.
Democrats won a pair of special legislative elections in Northern Virginia on Tuesday, according to The Associated Press, allowing the party to maintain its narrow majorities in both chambers. … In a special state Senate election, Democrat Kannan Srinivasan, currently a member of the state House, defeated Republican Tumay Harding. … And in a special House race, Democrat JJ Singh, a former Capitol Hill aide and small-business owner, defeated Republican Ram Venkatachalam.
The news for the GOP wasn’t all bad: In a conservative state Senate district west of Richmond, Republican Luther Cifers won his contest on the same day.
To be sure, the results weren’t altogether surprising: The candidates who were supposed to win did, in fact, prevail. But that doesn’t make the results unimportant.
For one thing, control of the chambers in Virginia’s General Assembly was on the line: If the Democratic victories had gone the other way — and in off-year special election contests, one never really knows — Republicans would’ve taken control of the House of Delegates and the state Senate in the commonwealth. With their wins, Democrats instead held on to their narrow majorities, to the chagrin of Republican Gov. Glenn Younkgin, who’s entering his final year in office.
For another, Virginia is one of two states that will hold statewide elections in 2025, including a competitive gubernatorial race, and these state legislative races were, as the NBC News report put it, “an early test of the political environment.” But while it’s best not to extrapolate too much from local state legislative special elections, there was also a national dimension to these contests. As a Politico report noted, both parties watched the contests for “clues about Republicans’ durability in a Democratic stronghold that tilted toward Trump in November.” For Democrats, the races served as a trial run of their messaging against the incoming Trump administration, which they warned will compromise their individual rights and economic well being. It’s a preview of how Democrats throughout the country will shape their arguments against Trump and his allies.
Election Day 2025 is a mere 300 days away. Watch this space.
Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past."
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