Bitter pill for US President Joe Biden: Republican candidate Glenn Youngkin won the gubernatorial election in the US state of Virginia. He narrowly beat Biden-backed Democrat Terry McAuliffe.
The 54-year-old Youngkin was supported in the election campaign by ex-President Donald Trump – even if he was more of him publicly
distanced and focused on moderate voters
concentrated. A neck-and-neck race had already emerged before the election, but McAuliffe was still ahead in the summer. The Republicans in Virginia were also concerned with the question of whether they could score points with moderate swing voters in rural areas.
The 64-year-old McAuliffe – who was governor of Virginia from 2014 to 2018 – was clearly ahead of the ten-year-old businessman Youngkin in surveys. In the past few weeks, his lead in surveys then melted down more and more.
The defeat of the Democrat McAuliffe in the previously democratically ruled Virginia is a serious setback for the party of US President Joe Biden. Because the vote was considered a vote on his previous term of office and a preview of the congressional election next year, in which a third of the Senate and the entire House of Representatives will be redefined.
Virginia voters punished the Democrats
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Should the democrats ruling in the federal government lose their narrow majority in one or even both chambers of congress, Biden would in fact no longer have any chance of legislative initiatives. That, in turn, could increase Republicans’ chances of returning to the White House in the 2024 presidential election.
The approval ratings for the president are worse than ever since he was elected to the White House a year ago. Biden has been trying for a long time to get two investment packages through Congress, but has so far failed due to wing battles in his own democratic party. According to observers, the defeat in the Virginia election is also to be seen as a receipt for it.
At least he won for the Democrats: New York’s future mayor Eric Adams
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Also in the gubernatorial election in the US state of New Jersey there are signs of a narrow defeat for the Democratic governor Phil Murphy – a final result has not yet been determined. Murphy tried to be the first Democrat in 44 years to be re-elected. But Republican challenger Jack Ciattarelli was surprisingly strong, promoting issues such as taxes and the rejection of pandemic masks and vaccination regulations.
As expected, Democrat Eric Adams won the mayoral election in the US metropolis of New York. Adams was considered a moderate candidate who wants to lead the office with a course between left and centrist forces.
sti / cw / rb (afp, ap, dpa, rtzr)
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