Gillespie actually got a higher percentage of Virginia voters than Trump got...
Trump - 44.4% - 2016
Gillespie - 45.0% - 2017
Gillespie- 1.1 million votes
Trump- 1.7 million votes
Gillespie did not have the advantage of running against Hillary.
True, but remember that Trump was running in a presidential election where Virginia senator Tim Kaine was on the ballot as Hillary Clinton’s running mate.