Democrats swept Virginia on Election Night, securing control of the Governor’s office, Lieutenant Governor, and Attorney General positions while flipping 13 Republican-held seats in the House of Delegates. The result left Republicans with just 36 seats — a dramatic shift that Delegate Wren Williams described as a “deep, deep minority.”
Williams, who represents the 47th District, was one of the few Republicans to win comfortably, earning 48.83% of the vote in his third consecutive victory. Speaking after the election, he said, “I was very disappointed in the election results on Tuesday. We are in a deep, deep minority now with only 36 members. And we certainly didn’t do what we needed to do to get the job done in these individual races. And I think that we need to step up and see what went wrong in our races, see what we have to do to make that better, and see what we need to accomplish to get back into the majority in 2027.”
Reflecting on the losses, Williams pointed to a lack of voter engagement. “I don’t think we showed up,” he said. “And I’m sure there’s a lot of reasons why, but we have to figure those out. Why did those folks stay home?” (RELATED: Virginia Social Studies Leaders Warn Testing Proposal Could Undermine Critical Thinking)
Williams also emphasized the need for a unified message and stronger candidates. “I think it’s important to look at where and what you’re messaging and have a cohesive message bringing a full platform to the offices and candidates at the statewide level and the House of Delegates level,” he said. “We have to go ahead and start recruiting strong candidates that are willing to put up strong fights in these very competitive districts. And we’ve got to start now.”
Despite the Republican setbacks, Williams expressed gratitude for his own decisive win. “That tells me that I’m doing a good job for the district, that people appreciate what I’ve been able to accomplish, and they’ve given me faith and trust to continue to push forward and make their lives easier and better for our community,” he said.
Looking ahead, Williams warned of challenges under full Democratic control. “It’s going to be a dark couple of years,” he said. “The Democrats have the trifecta now… it’s going to be our responsibility to highlight, bring out, and call out the hypocrisies and the unintended consequences and the damages that would be done in Virginia.”