“If the holiday kickoff is evidence that, in politics, some things don’t change, it nonetheless takes place in a state that has changed dramatically.”


Ralph Northam, the Democratic nominee for Virginia governor, could have never imagined he’d be running against Donald Trump. Ed Gillespie, the Republican nominee, probably always expected he’d be running against Hillary Clinton.

It’s been a topsy-turvy campaign, largely underway for about two years, rocked by last year’s unexpected outcome for the presidency and last month’s deadly violence in Charlottesville. And yet the Virginia contest is just getting started.

Despite the nonstop news cycle and the perpetual whirl of social media, Labor Day remains the traditional launch of the state’s political season. It’s the point on the calendar when the people whose opinions count most — ordinary Virginians — begin focusing in earnest on their choices in November.

Click to read the full article. BY JEFF E. SCHAPIRO – Richmond Times-Dispatch –