Virginia Lt. Gov. Ralph Northam’s victory, decisive as it may have been, was not the Democrats’ most significant victory last Tuesday. Far more impressive is the fact that they managed to put the state House of Delegates into contention, and may still have flipped it, pending a few recounts.

The chamber had been in Republican hands since the 1999 election, and there have been no less than 60 Republican delegates at any time since 2012. Going into this election, the balance of power in the chamber was 66 to 34 in favor of Republicans. And given that the district lines had been drawn by Republicans to solidify that majority, the chamber seemed impenetrable for Democrats, even in the best sort of Democratic year.