●The party will have big-name help in its effort.

Former president Barack Obama has made reversing Democratic losses in statehouses his top political priority. His former attorney general, Eric H. Holder Jr., chairs the National Democratic Redistricting Committee, which saw Virginia as a first chance to support gubernatorial and legislative candidates in an effort to shrink Republican influence over redistricting.

● Democrats may have demographics, as well as resources, in their favor. Kelly Ward, executive director of the National Democratic Redistricting Committee, notes that the biggest Democratic routs in Virginia ran through suburban districts where fiscal-minded Republicans and independents turned off by Trump are living. Her group also spent money on digital ads targeting young and black voters whom Democrats don’t usually count on to vote in nonpresidential races.

Read more: Washington Post, December 31, 2017