Democratic nominee Ralph Northam won the 2017 election for Governor of Virginia by the unexpectedly large margin of nine percentage points, 54 to 45 percent. Unlike the Rustbelt states voting for President in 2016, few counties switched from Democrat to Republican since the last Virginia gubernatorial election in 2013. Instead the surprising margin was caused...
Whit Ayres’ quote in The New York Times regarding the state of play in the 2018 Senate map: “The Democrats running in the 10 states that Donald Trump carried have all demonstrated an ability to get elected in Republican states, so they obviously have something going for them,” said Whit Ayres, a Republican strategist. “But...
Whit Ayres appeared on NPR’s All Things Considered to discuss President Trump’s job approval: To read the transcript, please click here.
Whit Ayres’ comments in Bloomberg Businessweek regarding the competitive Senate environment in 2018: Whit Ayres, a GOP strategist advising Senate and House candidates next year, admits Republicans are going to have “the wind in their face,” but he points out that, given the 26 seats Senate Democrats will have to keep, the GOP has been...
Whit Ayres’ comments to the Associated Press on the effect of tax reform on Republicans’ electoral prospects in 2018: “Passing the tax bill is necessary but not sufficient for Republicans to retain control of Congress in 2018,” said GOP consultant Whit Ayres. “It does give the party a concrete accomplishment that they can take to...
Whit Ayres’ comments in The New York Times regarding Senator Rubio’s efforts to expand the Child Tax Credit in the Republican tax reform bill: “He is not ‘all of a sudden, at the last minute’ grandstanding,” said Whit Ayres, Mr. Rubio’s pollster. “This is a consistent cause of his, going back to the presidential campaign...
Whit Ayres’ comments in The Wall Street Journal regarding the Alabama special election and what it means for next year’s midterm elections: “Obviously, the primary responsibility lies with a deeply flawed Republican candidate,” said Republican pollster Whit Ayres. But he said results in Alabama—and in Virginia’s race for governor, which Democrats won—also showed that some...
Whit Ayres’ comments in The Christian Science Monitor on Alabama’s unique political views and senate race: “Alabama’s always had a fiercely independent streak,” explains GOP pollster and consultant Whit Ayres. “George Wallace came from Alabama, and stood in the schoolhouse door to tell the federal government to get lost,” says Mr. Ayres, referring to the...
Whit Ayres’ comments in The Hill regarding the Republican tax bill: “It makes a lot of sense in a tax-reform bill to provide some relief to those on the lower end of the income scale as well as the upper end,” said Whit Ayres, a Republican pollster who does work for Rubio. Ayres said Rubio...
Whit Ayres’ comments in USA Today about sexual harassment and party politics: “It’s a huge problem with women and particularly college-educated white women if Republicans come to be perceived as the party that accepts and defends men credibly accused of assault and being sexual predators,” said GOP pollster Whit Ayres. To read the full article,...
