November 8, 2017 – Jenna Portnoy, Washington Post
One year. That’s how long Rep. Barbara Comstock has to figure out how to protect herself from her constituents’ disdain for President Trump, borne out by a blue wave across Virginia during Tuesday’s elections.
The only Northern Virginia Republican in Congress watched her friend Ed Gillespie lose the governor’s race. Next, the Democrats wiped out seven GOP-held state delegate seats with whom she shares territory.
No one who knows Comstock is counting her out — she’s a relentless campaigner and operative — but as the polls closed Tuesday night, a new reality set in: She could do everything right and still lose at the hands of Democratic voters bent on defeating anyone who shares a party affiliation with Trump.
“If I’m Barbara Comstock, I’m very worried, absolutely,” Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe said in an interview during the Democrats’ election night celebration. “Look at the turnout! I think every Republican is on notice tonight. This is what Donald Trump has done to their party.”