The message of Brat’s victory is that “this angry, conservative element of the Republican Party is not to be trifled with,” said Stephen J. Farnsworth, a professor of political science and international affairs at the University of Mary Washington.
“Republicans, by and large in Virginia politics, are not that interested in cross-party compromise. The prospects for any kind of bipartisan cooperation on any issue … are much dimmer than they were a week ago.”
Farnsworth added: “I think we’re already seeing the movement to the right in the Virginia legislature. The Republican senators who were willing to back some sort of compromise deal on the Medicaid question have already fallen quickly into line.”/p>
