President Trump took to Twitter to say Ed Gillespie fell short in the Virginia governor’s race because the Republican candidate tried to distance himself from the president.
“Ed Gillespie worked hard but did not embrace me or what I stand for,” Mr. Trump said. “Don’t forget, Republicans won 4 out of 4 House seats, and with the economy doing record numbers, we will continue to win, even bigger than before!”
Dianne Swavely, 75, who was supporting Mr. Gillespie, doubted Mr. Trump’s impact on the race.
“Donald Trump does his thing. He gets on his little phone, and he emails people and tweets people, and they listen to him because if the press is not doing their job, they are not finding the truth and printing the truth, they are going to find it some other way,” she said. “But there are fools that are believing some of the stories that are coming out. There are always foolish people in this world.”
Republicans in Virginia said Mr. Gillespie made a decision to keep distance from Mr. Trump, fearing the president would be a drag on his campaign.
But the Republican candidate did get last-minute assistance from Mr. Trump with robocalls to voters urging them to back the Republican ticket.
SEE ALSO: Donald Trump opponents swarm Virginia election sites
Mr. Trump said Mr. Northam would be a “total disaster” for Virginia, The Associated Press reported.
• Seth McLaughlin can be reached at smclaughlin@washingtontimes.com.
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