Northern Virginia Just Sent Shockwaves Through The United States

It was supposed to be a close race. Republican Ed Gillespie had narrowed Democrat Ralph Northam's lead in the Virginia gubernatorial campaign to just 2 or 3 points prior to election day, according to poll aggregator RealClearPolitics. Gillespie could even win, and Republicans certainly weren't going to lose their majority in the House of Delegates with a massive 66-34 seat lead.

Well, that's not exactly how it turned out, and Northern Virginia was a big reason for that.

Obviously, NoVa doesn't have as much to do with the coup in the House of Delegates, but residents here can take credit for Northam's victory. Northam beat Gillespie by 224,436 votes statewide -- his margin of victory in Northern Virginia was 270,348.

Of 778,254 votes cast in NoVa, Northam captured 66.9 percent of the vote (520,619 votes) to Gillespie's 32.2 percent (250,271). Libertarian candidate Cliff Hyra received the remaining 0.9 percent of the vote (7,364).

In Fairfax County alone, Northam beat Gillespie by 130,627 votes.

The results came at a time when the Democratic Party was desperate for a big election win following President Trump's shocking upset of Hillary Clinton a year ago. And as a result, Virginia earned national attention Tuesday as the only state -- other than New Jersey -- with a major statewide election going on this year. The results sent Democrats cheering, and Republicans grumbling about NoVa's influence.

Liberty University president Jerry Falwell Jr. slammed NoVa on Twitter, saying that residents here shouldn't even be allowed to vote in Virginia elections.

"DC should annex NOVA and return the governance of VA to Virginians!" he tweeted. "The founders intended DC to include all fed employees who are conflicted."

Meanwhile, others noticed the huge influence that NoVa voters had on the race, even as rural Virginians turned more Republican.

"Gillespie did increase Republican margins in rural Virginia -- but they were drowned out by NoVa swinging way more Democratic," Fenit Nirappil of the Washington Post tweeted.

The huge win earned Virginia attention from some famous names. Barack Obama tweeted out congratulations to Northam, and Hillary Clinton celebrated the win.

"This is what happens when the people vote," Obama wrote. "Congrats @RalphNortham and @PhilMurphyNJ . And congratulations to all the victors in state legislative, county and mayors' races. Every office in a democracy counts!"

President Trump dismissed the results as due to Gillespie not fully embracing him, and promised that Republicans would perform fine in congressional elections.

"Ed Gillespie worked hard but did not embrace me or what I stand for," he tweeted. "Don’t forget, Republicans won 4 out of 4 House seats, and with the economy doing record numbers, we will continue to win, even bigger than before!"

Here's how the vote totals broke down in each county/city in NoVa:

Loudoun County

Northam 59.5% (69,710)
Gillespie 39.5% (46,278)
Hyra 1.1% (1,257)

Fairfax County

Northam 66.6% (254,783)
Gillespie 32.5% (124,156)
Hyra 0.9% (3,389)

Fairfax City

Northam 64.9% (5,374)
Gillespie 34.0% (2,821)
Hyra 1.1% (91)

Prince William County

Northam 60.8% (71,550)
Gillespie 38.2% (44,960)
Hyra 1.0% (1,209)

Manassas

Northam 56.9% (5,291)
Gillespie 41.9% (3,897)
Hyra 1.2% (112)

Arlington County

Northam 80.1% (68,315)
Gillespie 19.0% (16,160)
Hyra 0.9% (796)

Alexandria

Northam 78.4% (40,826)
Gillespie 20.8% (10,807)
Hyra 0.8% (434)

Falls Church

Northam 79.0% (4,770)
Gillespie 19.7% (1,192)
Hyra 1.3% (76)

Image via both candidates' campaign websites