Terry McAuliffe defeated Ken Cuccinelli in a close election. (Creative Commons)

"The truth is that this election was never a choice between Democrats and Republicans, it was a choice about whether Virginia would continue the mainstream bipartisan tradition that has served us so well over the last decade," McAuliffe said.

In his victory speech McAuliffe reached across party lines and encouraged both sides to work together. 

"I understand that emotions are raw. I have been there. I get it," McAuliffe said. "I expect you to hold me to my pledge to work with both sides and I hope that once we make bipartisan progress that I can earn your trust." 

For Democrats the victory is a sign that a once red state is well on its way to becoming blue. As for Republicans, they must now reconsider whether conservative candidates can win in Virginia.  

Cuccinelli, who as a state senator developed a reputation as being staunchly conservative, must now find another way to raise his profile in the Republican Party.

In his concession speech Cuccinelli said he was "disappointed" but "immensely proud of the campaign we ran."

Even in defeat Cuccinelli took to attacking the Affordable Care Act, telling his supporters, "We were lied to by our own government."

In addition to taking the governorship, Democrats will control the lieutenant governor's office as Ralph Northam defeated Republican E.W. Jackson. The victory means that a Democrat will break ties in the state Senate, which is currently divided evenly across party lines. 

Virginia's race for attorney general is still too close to call with Republican Mark Obenshain and Democrat Mark Herring owning 50 percent of the vote with nearly all precincts reporting. A victory for Herring would mark the first time Democrats have swept all statewide offices since 1989.

Virginia's gubernatorial race often serves as a measuring stick for how Americans will vote in the midterm elections. When Republican Bob McDonnell easily captured the position in 2009, the GOP recaptured the House the following year in the largest seat change since 1948.  

In 2005 Democrat Tim Kaine used Hurricane Katrina and the Iraq War to win the governorship. Using the same tactics, Democrats captured the House and the Senate the next year.     

The race between McAuliffe and Cuccinelli was characterized not by big policy issues, but by character attacks.

McAuliffe portrayed Cuccinelli as a right-wing zealot, whose social views do not represent a state as large and diverse as Virginia. Television advertisements attacked his record on abortion, domestic violence and gay marriage.  

Meanwhile Cuccinelli's camp took to casting McAuliffe as an unethical businessman whose failed car company, attempt to expand one of his ventures to China and ties to the Washington political establishment made him unfit to run the state. Attention was also called to McAuliffe's shaky history as a Democratic fundraiser.  

"This has been one unbelievably relentless, low-road, negative campaign," Mark Rozell, a political scientist at George Mason University told USA Today. "Each candidate has tried to convince voters that the other is the more horrible alternative of the two."

But while the Democrats were consistent in their attacks the Republicans struggled to create a cohesive message about their opponent. Last week a poll by the Washington Post found that two-thirds of McAuliffe's backers were voting against Cuccinelli, rather than the Democrat, a clear sign of the impact of McAuliffe's attacks.

This can be partially attributed to McAuliffe out fundraising his opponent by more than $14 million. He collected $34 million from media executives, Silicon Valley stars, and the more traditional sources of funds, labor unions and special interest groups. In the week leading up to the election McAuliffe outspent Cuccinelli four to one on television advertisements.   

Even some Republicans, scared off by Cuccinelli's social agenda, donated to McAuliffe. Virginia homebuilder Dwight Schar, a former finance chairman for the Republican National Committee, donated to McAuliffe.

Clearly cognizant of their impact on the election McAuliffe thanked the “historic number of Republican supporters who crossed party lines to support me” in his victory speech. 

McAuliffe will be sworn in Jan. 11.

Reach Staff Reporter Steven Covelman here.