The Republican Party of Virginia sees an opportunity to harness the energy of outraged gun rights voters to seize back seats in the state legislature and help President Trump win the commonwealth in 2020.

Since Democrat Terry McAuliffe was elected governor in 2013, edging out Republican Ken Cucinelli by just 2.5 percentage points, and Democrat Ralph Northam succeeded McAuliffe by winning in 2017, Virginia Republicans have struggled to fire up their base and win statewide races. More recently, on Election Day last year, Democrats swept into control of the Virginia state legislature, which Republicans had dominated for years.