Remember that Virginia had a tendency to elect governors from the party opposite of the incumbent President's party from 1977 onwards (except 2013), even when the incumbent President's party won VA decisively at the Presidential level. The 2021 result could indicate whether 2013 was just an aberration or part of a larger pro-Democratic trend.
I don't think the people are consciously voting this way. I think the trends in presidential politics and Virginia's transition from a Solid South state to a brief Republican state to a Democratic state again just happened to create a situation where it looked like people were picking Governors methodically but really it's just because neither party had an iron grip on the state and so a backlash to the party that controlled the White House was enough to put the "out party" over in Virginia executive races.
But fast forward to 2013-2017, where polarization and VA's Democratic trend meant that there are no longer enough ticket splitters or residual GOP strength to overcome the dominant party's grip on power.
Poll
