Is Terry McAuliffe's narrow win in Virginia ominous news for ObamaCare?

Republican Ken Cuccinelli called the Virginia governor's race a referendum on ObamaCare, then came within striking distance of an upset victory

Terry McAuliffe
(Image credit: (AP Photo/Cliff Owen))

Democrat Terry McAuliffe won Virginia's gubernatorial race on Tuesday, giving Democrats a big victory and breaking the Old Dominion's 36-year streak of handing the statehouse to the party not residing in the White House. McAuliffe beat state Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli (R) by a narrow 2.6 percentage points, 48 percent to 45.4 percent. Recent polls had McAuliffe up by an average of 6.7 points.

With almost all the votes counted, we've entered the "What does it mean?" phase of the election. Democrats, breathing a sigh of relief, are calling the victory by the relatively unpopular, Clinton-aligned fundraiser a rejection of the conservative Tea Party wing of the GOP, and the federal government shutdown that faction orchestrated. The exit polls bear that out, to some extent.

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Peter Weber, The Week US

Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.