In 2009, Virginia voters angry over the ongoing economic recession and President Obama’s push for health-care reform elected Republican Robert F. McDonnell by a 17-point margin. Four years later, despite Obama’s still-low approval ratings, Virginia chose Democrat Terry McAuliffe.
Democrats credit an aggressive field program, bolstered by new technological innovations using Facebook and some old tactics lifted from Obama’s team in 2012, with a surge in younger and African American voters — the overwhelmingly Democratic contingents that helped McAuliffe win a narrow three-point victory.