Joe Scarborough says Tuesday's GOP drubbing was clearly 'a message to Donald Trump'

(Image credit: Screenshot/Twitter/Morning Joe)

published 8 November 2017

On Tuesday, Virginia Lt. Gov. Ralph Northam (D) trounced Republican Ed Gillespie by a wide 9-point margin, bringing a lot of Democrats along with him on his coattails. On Wednesday's Morning Joe, Joe Scarborough was surprised. "Everybody on both sides of the aisles said this guy ran one of the worst closing campaigns they had seen in recent memory, and yet Virginia voters stood in the rain, they stood in long lines," he said.

"I do believe that next year may be the year of 'women voters and women candidates,' because I heard stories of women standing in the rain in Northern Virginia in long lines, and they weren't going to move until they got their vote against Donald Trump," Scarborough added. He said he still doesn't believe the 2016 election was about Trump as much as it was about Hillary Clinton, and by the same light, "last night wasn't so much about Ralph Northam as it was voters — Republicans, moderates, Democrats, and women — sending a message to Donald Trump."

It should be noted that on Monday, nobody on the Morning Joe panel of pundits thought Northam would beat Gillespie. So even if female voters standing in the rain outside D.C. were a strong data point for the 2018 midterms, rather than a bit of interesting anecdotal evidence, you should probably wait a few months before hitting the Vegas bookies with a wager on "women voters and women candidates in 2018." Peter Weber

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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.