Virginia election results: Democrats flip first House seat of night as Jennifer Wexton wins

The seat was the first to flip in favour of Democrats, and could pre-empt big wins for the party in the midterms

Democrats have flipped their first House seat of the night, with Jennifer Wexton projected to beat out incumbent Republican Representative Barbara Comstock in Virginia's 10th congressional district.

To win control of the House, Democrats need to pick up a total of 23 seats.

The victory in Virginia is a potential sign that the blue wave that has been predicted for months headed into the 2018 midterm elections could materialise. The district has long been considered to be a GOP stronghold, and has not been carried by a Democrat in nearly four decades.

Ms Wexton is a state senator in Virginia, and a former prosecutor.

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During the first two years of President Donald Trump's time in office, Ms Comstock has separated herself at key moments from the policies coming out of the White House. But she appears to not have done so quite enough, and the majority of voters in the district indicated that the president was the most important factor in their decision.

The 2018 midterms are the first national election since Mr Trump surprised the nation and the world with his victory over Hillary Clinton to become president, and his time in office has been contentious as he has approached the job in a way unseen before, stoking racial tensions in the country and alienating international allies.

Heading into election day, polls indicated that American voters preferred Democrats by over a dozen percentage points in the generic congressional ballot. That would indicate that Democrats across the country could hope to see big wins as polls continue to come in.