Pretty good day for the Dems. Bad day for the GOP and The Duce.

Winners and losers from Election Day 2017

Election Day 2017 is just about in the books, with Democrats Phil Murphy and Ralph Northam winning the governor's mansions in New Jersey and Virginia, respectively. 

The latter won the biggest and most closely watched race of the night, giving Democrats a shot in the arm after a tough electoral year. 

And plenty of signs Tuesday pointed to a very good night for Democrats.

. . . .

Transgender candidate Danica Roem's win for a House of Delegates seat in Virginia is huge both symbolically and historically. 

The Democrat defeated a social conservative icon in Del. Bob Marshall (R), a 26-year incumbent who once called himself Virginia's “chief homophobe.” 

And she did it by about 10 points. 

She also becomes the first openly transgender candidate elected to a state legislature in American history.

In Minneapolis, meanwhile, Andrea Jenkins (D) became the first openly transgender candidate to win a city council seat in a major city. 

And in Pennsylvania, Tyler Titus became the first openly transgender person elected in state history by winning a seat on the Erie school board.

. . . .

Oh, and Democrats also put a huge dent in the GOP's big advantage in the Virginia House of Delegates. 

It even looked like they might take the majority — something that had seemed unthinkable.

. . . .

Both Republican gubernatorial nominees — former Republican National Committee chairman Ed Gillespie in Virginia and Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno in New Jersey — ran with a version of Trump's nationalistic, often dark anti-illegal-immigration message. 

And neither saw it pay off. 

Gillespie's use of the strategy was particularly jarring, given that he is basically the very definition of the kind of establishment Republican who has eschewed that kind of approach.

Ed Gillespie worked hard but did not embrace me or what I stand for. 

Don’t forget, Republicans won 4 out of 4 House seats, and with the economy doing record numbers, we will continue to win, even bigger than before!

Says WAPO,

Trump is taking some liberties here. 

As mentioned above, Gillespie did embrace some of Trump's agenda, even if he didn't exactly say he loved Trump. 

The president also cut a robo-call for Gillespie that went out on Election Day. 

And the idea that he just needed to bear-hug Trump a little more doesn't really hold up, given that he lost by a large margin.