Nope, not a referendum on Trump, rather the EXPECTED results from a Blue State.
Indeed. There are at least two substantive facts which support your assertion.
One, we in Virginia have had only one Republican Governor in the past four election cycles (16 years). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Governors_of_Virginia. That Ralphy-baby won is no shocker.
Two, Hillary won in Virginia a year ago.
In short, for a RINO like Gillespie to win here in the Old Dominion it would have taken an Act of God™. Or, if not that degree of divine intervention, at least the influence of some sort of political demi-god.
Bottom line, to assert that Northam's victory/Gillespie's loss is a measure of a sea-change in sentiment in the nation is just plain specious, and just plain nuts.
But hey, when has the Left ever allowed reality to penetrate their Progressive Brain Cloud?