RICHMOND, Va. — Virginia leaders are reacting to the changes and shifts from Tuesday's presidential election which saw Donald Trump ascend to the presidency for the second time.
While Trump won the White House, Virginia was not among the states that helped him to victory. However, he was able to improve vote totals compared to 2020.
"I was very pleased that America elected Donald J. Trump and J.D. Vance as president, vice president respectively," Republican Party of Virginia Chairman Rich Anderson.
Anderson says while Virginia voted for Vice President Kamala Harris, former president Donald Trump won nationally and cut the Democrat margin of victory in the Commonwealth in half compared to 2020.
"I'm feeling very good. You know, politics is an enterprise where you don't necessarily get the whole ball of wax, I mean, and that's life also.
Anderson says what the margin and national win reveal is what's important to voters -- and using that in future elections.
"It was things like the border and national sovereignty, things like the economy and the cost of gas and groceries, the strong requirement for a strong national defense policy," Anderson said.
Democratic House Speaker Don Scott says while he doesn't like the outcome, he's accepting it -- noting not only did Virginia pick Harris, but they kept their party's Congressional seats.
"Vice President Harris ran a great race to come in with only a little bit more than 100 days. I think she ran a great race under circumstances," Scott said.
At the same time, Scott said he is taking a lessons-learned approach, noting similar issues as Anderson.
"I think we have to have an honest conversation with ourselves about what we need to do to move forward."
CBS 6 Political Analyst Dr. Bob Holsworth says the results show Democrats need to put more focus on regaining voters in the western and rural parts of Virginia.
"Certainly, the Democrats have not had a message that gaining them new voters right now and they're just trying to hang on to the voters that they have," Holsworth said.
As for what a second Trump administration could mean for Virginia, while many actions could have broader implications, one policy mentioned by the president-elect in the campaign was about moving the federal workforce, based heavily in Northern Virginia, to other parts of the country.
Yet, all three agree, that time will tell.
"The real test will come when his planners have to put pencil to paper and then probably negotiate all of this through a United States Congress," Anderson said.
"I think the country made a bet on Donald Trump that some of the things that he has said he didn't mean, and they're going to trust him, and I hope they're right because we want him to be successful because it's good for the entire country," Scott said.
"Right now, we're really in a time of uncertainty," Holsworth said. "We're going to have to see what a couple of these priorities are."
Meanwhile, Governor Glenn Youngkin put out a statement congratulating the congressional winners and Trump, saying of his victory the American people returned common sense, strength, and leadership back to the White House.
He also gave credit to how the state's election apparatus was run, saying the election was fair and secure.
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