Republican Donald Trump was elected the 47th president of the United States on Wednesday, outperforming his results in the 2020 election, while Democrat Kamala Harris failed to do as well as President Joe Biden did in winning the presidency four years ago.

Voting trends that were seen nationally also appeared in Maryland and Virginia.

“A lot of polls had Kamala Harris winning by eight or 10 points, but she won by five,” said Virginia political analyst Bob Holsworth, while discussing the polling and election results in the Commonwealth.

Five points is the margin that Hillary Rodham Clinton carried Virginia by in 2016, which was five points below President Biden’s margin in his 2020 victory in Virginia.

There were two close races involving U.S. House seats controlled by Democrats in the 7th and 10th Congressional Districts.

“What was interesting in both the races was in almost every jurisdiction in those two districts, there was a shift of one or two points to the right,” Holsworth said. “We saw this almost uniform pattern of jurisdictions moving a little bit more toward the Republican direction than they had previously in Virginia, and that really was the story of the nation.”

In the 7th Congressional District, which is being vacated by Democratic Rep. Abigail Spanberger, Democrat Eugene Vindman declared victory over Republican Derrick Anderson with about a two-point lead.

The Associated Press declared Vindman the winner on Wednesday evening, nearly 24 hours after polls closed.

In the 10th Congressional District, which Democrat Rep. Jennifer Wexton is leaving due to severe health challenges, Democratic Del. Suhas Subramanyam defeated his Republican opponent, Mike Clancy, by about four points.

“What you saw in the election was that in Northern Virginia and in the big suburbs around Richmond — particularly Henrico and Chesterfield counties — the Democrats did quite well,” Holsworth said. “What you also saw was the complete collapse of the Democrats in rural Virginia.”

Trends in neighboring Maryland

Similar patterns emerged in Maryland, even though registered Democrats outnumber Republicans in the state by a 2:1 ratio.

“It’s a safely Democratic state, but the national trend of the shift toward Republicans is something we see in Maryland as well,” said Todd Eberly, a political science professor at St. Mary’s College of Maryland.

Trump improved his vote share in Maryland, and Harris pulled in less than Biden did four years ago.

Eberly said the divide between urban and rural Americans was on full display.

“The education divide between those with a college degree and those without is growing, and you see it playing out in Maryland,” Eberly said. “You have these seas of red in the east and in the west, and then you have all of this blue along the urban and suburban I-95 corridor, which also happens to be where most of the folks with college degrees are concentrated.”

Republican former Gov. Larry Hogan lost to Democrat Angela Alsobrooks in the race for Maryland’s open U.S. Senate seat.

Still, Eberly noted, “Larry Hogan looks like he’s going to have probably the best performance for a Republican Senate candidate in 20 years.”

In Maryland’s 6th Congressional District, which is being vacated by Democratic Rep. David Trone, Democrat April McClain Delaney has a very slim lead over Republican Neil Parrott.

As of Wednesday night, the race had not been called by The Associated Press.

“In that district, Democrats should have done better,” Eberly said. “That is a district that is most competitive in off-year elections, but it’s looking pretty darn competitive in a presidential election.”

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Heading up to Virginia Tech’s matchup against Clemson, Brent Pry gave some injury designations to a banged-up Hokies roster which dropped their last game against Syracuse.

Bhayshul Tuten and Kyron Drones did not play. Backup quarterback Collin Schlee was banged up during the game. Mansoor Delane also took some big shots, and Layth Ghannam has been medically cleared to play.

However, you will not see Layth Ghannam’s name on this week depth chart, since Brent Pry said that Layth needs more time to get back to game speed before returning to the field.

Tuten, Drones, and Delane were all labeled as questionable for Saturday’s game. Collin Schlee had a different designation, as Brent Pry said Schlee would be good to go if he was needed against Clemson.

Here’s Virginia Tech’s full two-deep depth chart against Clemson.

Updated Nov. 6 at 3:40 a.m.

The voters of the 7th Congressional district proved just how tight the contest is, by keeping the race between Eugene Vindman and Derrick Anderson too close to call.

About 99% of votes had been cast, with Vindman and Anderson earning about 51% and 49% of the vote, respectively, but the Associated Press did not declare a winner by 3:40 a.m. on  Wednesday.

“In my 25 years of military service, and when we were jumping out of airplanes, it didn’t matter to me the color creed, background, race, or party affiliation of the person next to me,” said Vindman in a statement declaring victory, despite the uncertainty of the outcome. “What mattered was getting the mission done. That’s the type of service I am going to take to Washington as the next Congressman from Virginia’s 7th Congressional District.”

“We knew this was going to be a tight race, folks,” Anderson said in a video posted on his X account at 10:42 p.m., before later posting the race was “too close to call.”

“We’re going to keep looking, we’re going to keep watching,” Anderson said. “I just ask y’all give us a little more time and we’re going to get through this thing.”

The seat went up for grabs after incumbent Abigail Spanberger, a Democrat, announced she would run for governor. In 2021, the year before voters in the 7th elected Spanberger, more of the district voted for Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin than his Democratic opponent former Gov. Terry McAuliffe.

Spanberger, in a statement Tuesday, congratulated Vindman on a “well-earned victory,” adding he will, “bring the values, work ethic, and commitment to public service that the Seventh District deserves.”

Though the men hold similar backgrounds through their military service, the race between Vindman and Anderson largely focused on their policy differences.

Vindman voiced strong support for protecting reproductive health rights, easing Virginians’ economic pain by continuing to lower medication costs, and strengthening the nation’s borders.

Anderson supported reducing taxes and immigration reform in his campaign, and said abortion rights are best left up to states. He mirrored several of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump’s policy stances.

We will update this story with the race outcome as soon as it is confirmed.