Wishful thinking for Trump to take Virginia. Northam and his band are fairly popular with the voters. Freitas doesn’t stand a chance taking the seat from Spanberger. She must be immensely popular from all the signs I see in Richmond. Rarely spot a Freitas yard sign.
You’re both wanted over on the Michigan 2016 thread.
I am a specialist in Virginia politics and I can tell you in no uncertain terms that your impressions are completely wrong.
Freitas will win handily and Virginia is very much in play for Trump.
We will also take the 2nd district and likely the 10th and the Senate seat also.
The situation for the VA GOP has turned around in a big way over the past year. The loserthink is gone and all over the state GOPers are bearing down and doing the hard work it takes to win the state back.
It won’t all come to fruition this year, but at least some of it will.
As far as I can tell the city of Richmond is entirely outside the district, though of course it makes sense to put up signs there. The point is that no Richmond residents vote in CD-7, but it’s not remotely the slam-dunk it was back in Tom Bliley’s day (under different boundaries, as well).
The big problem in this district is Henrico County, about 3/4 of which is in the district. Many years ago, from the 1950s through the 1980s, this was a solid rural and then suburban Republican area. Beginning in earnest in the 1990s and continuing unabated since then, the undesirables of Richmond have been invading and the good people have been fleeing.
Some areas of the county are still OK, but Henrico County is bad now and getting worse. Nearly 2/3 of CD-7 lies within Henrico & Chesterfield counties, the rest is predominantly rural, but Chesterfield is dangerously close to tipping the wrong way; it’s just a few years behind Henrico as far as its demographic deterioration.