In the Va delegate race, there were 4 or 5 races that had no republican challengers. The Dems ran unopposed Certainly we could have fielded and ran at least 2 winning candates out of those 5 or so which would have nudged the house back to the republicans. There were several Democrats unopposed in the senate race as well. Just a coup;e of wins of those would have allowed the race to go to the Pubbies. The Pubbies just gave it to the Dems in this state.
Republicans want the perks, without the responsibility.
These were districts in which a Republican could not win. The Republicans focused their energy and money on races that were winnable. This election cycle was made much more difficult because of a recent statewide redistricting that resulted in new elections for every member of the house and senate. At the time of the redistricting, pretty much everyone who pays attention to these things concluded it would favor the Democrats.