New York gets another Democrat as mayor. As expected, the ex-police officer Eric Adams prevailed clearly against Curtis Sliwa, who stood for the Republicans. According to projections, Adams received around 67 percent of the vote.
“I made my dream come true”
“Tonight I made my dream come true, and with all my heart I will remove the barriers that prevent you from achieving yours,” said Adams after his election victory to celebrating supporters in Brooklyn. Even during his time with the police, the Democrat had campaigned against racism among the security forces.
New York has been a Democratic stronghold for years, which is why Adams was considered a big favorite in the run-up to the election, although his party friend and predecessor Bill de Blasio was recently extremely unpopular. The number of registered supporters of the Democrats in the US metropolis is seven times as high as that of the Republican supporters.
Security as a central issue
Compared with the more left-wing incumbent Bill der Blasio, who was unable to run again after two terms in office, Adams stands for a more business-friendly course. He also rejects cuts in the New York police’s six billion dollar budget.
Adams, who always carries a gun and advocates that all police officers in the city are armed in their spare time, has declared that the main goal is to combat the increasing crime in the city.
Democrats lose mood test in Virginia
In contrast, the Democrats suffered a bitter defeat in the Virginia gubernatorial election. According to forecasts, Republican candidate Glenn Youngkin won here. He narrowly beat the Democrat Terry McAuliffe, who was supported by Biden, according to predictions from various broadcasters.
The election was considered an important test of sentiment a year before the congressional elections. The 54-year-old Youngkin was supported in the election campaign by ex-President Donald Trump – even if he publicly distanced himself from him and adopted moderate tones.
A debacle for Biden
In the presidential election a year ago in Virginia, Biden was able to easily win, the loss of the state is a debacle for the Democrats, especially since the approval ratings of the president are worse than ever since he took office.
Especially with regard to the mid-term elections, this is an alarming sign for Biden: In the vote next year, your wafer-thin majority in Congress is at stake. Trump’s Republicans then want to regain control in the Senate and the House of Representatives.
And things could get worse for the White House: Even in the gubernatorial election in the US state of New Jersey, a narrow defeat for Biden’s Democrats is on the horizon – a result has not yet been determined.
US President in crisis
Biden has long tried unsuccessfully to get two investment packages through Congress. Biden has so far failed because of wing battles in his own democratic party. However, he did not want to know that his political performance could have an impact on the election result. “I haven’t seen any evidence that whether I’m doing well or badly, whether I’ve got my agenda or not, will have any real impact on winning or losing,” he said before the vote.
The past few months have been marked by numerous setbacks for Biden. In addition to the internal party dispute over Biden’s investment packages, the chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan also did not make the president look good. The corona pandemic continued to trouble the country – in the summer, the delta variant drove the numbers up. The vaccination against the virus is making slow progress. Biden relies on compulsory vaccination in many areas – a topic that polarizes in the USA. The economic upturn is also sluggish – there are also delivery bottlenecks as a result of the pandemic.
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