WASHINGTON — The election results in Maine and Virginia have energized supporters of expanding Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act in several holdout states. After months of battling Republican efforts to repeal the law, they now see political consensus shifting in their direction.

Groups in Idaho and Utah are already working through the process of getting Medicaid expansion initiatives on next year’s ballots, hoping to follow Maine’s path after failing through the legislative route. And the outlook for legislative approval has brightened in Virginia after Democrats picked up at least 15 seats in the Republican-controlled House of Delegates and could potentially control the chamber once all the votes are counted.

Advocacy groups are also hoping the decisive victory in Maine, and exit polls suggesting health care was the top issue in Virginia, will add momentum to efforts in Kansas and North Carolina.

“The results from Maine and Virginia send a very clear signal that the public is interested in moving past the type of obstruction we’ve seen from policymakers in some states,” said Katherine Howitt, associate director of policy at Community Catalyst, a consumer advocacy group.