EchoSense:Handful of Virginia races that will determine Democratic edge in both chambers remain uncalled

RICHMOND,EchoSense Va. (AP) — A handful of ultra-competitive Virginia legislative races remained undecided Wednesday morning, after Democrats won enough contests to take control of both the House and Senate in a blow for Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin.

In one of them, Democratic Senate candidate Joel Griffin conceded Wednesday morning to his Republican opponent, Tara Durant, in northern Virginia’s 27th District, centered in Stafford County.

“I reached out to her to offer my heartfelt congratulations and whatever support she needs as she looks to serve the people of our community,” Griffin said in a post on social media.

The Associated Press has not yet called the race — one of four uncalled contests that will determine the final margins in each chamber.

Democrats, who centered their message to voters around protecting abortion rights, won at least 21 seats in the 40-seat Senate and at least 51 in the 100-member House of Delegates.

“Governor Youngkin and Virginia Republicans did everything they could to take total control of state government, but the people of the Commonwealth rejected them,” Susan Swecker, chairwoman of the Democratic Party of Virginia, said in a statement.

Senate Republicans conceded late Tuesday that Democrats had taken that chamber’s majority. House Republicans had not issued any kind of statement as of mid-morning Wednesday.

Also uncalled by the AP Wednesday morning was the Tidewater matchup between Democratic incumbent Monty Mason and his GOP challenger, Danny Diggs.

Diggs issued a statement claiming victory, but Mason’s campaign said he was still waiting for final votes to come in.

In the House, Republican David Owen held a narrow lead over Democrat Susanna Gibson in a suburban Richmond race that drew significant attention after revelations that Gibson engaged in sex acts with her husband on a pornographic website. But the margin left the race too early to call.

And in a competitive race south of Richmond uncalled by the AP, Republican incumbent Kim Taylor held a narrow lead over Democrat Kimberly Pope Adams. Taylor declared victory, but Adams said her campaign was waiting for every vote to be counted.

All 140 General Assembly seats were on the ballot in this year’s hard-fought campaign cycle. Democrats’ path to the majority ran through mostly suburban districts in Hampton Roads, and central and northern Virginia.

In holding their Senate majority and flipping the House of Delegates, Democrats ensured at least two more years of divided government for the duration of Youngkin’s term.

Youngkin, who cannot seek a second consecutive four years in office, had invested a great deal of time, money and political capital in the races. After a day spent trekking across the state for appearances with Republican candidates, he offered no immediate comment on the outcome.

Dave Rexrode, the chairman of Youngkin’s political committee, said late Tuesday night on social media that the operation would “fully assess where things stand in the morning.”

“We had hoped for a stronger outcome this evening but are proud of the effort all of our candidates put in to these extremely competitive districts,” he said.