Trump anniv marred by Democrat win

Virginia, New Jersey, NY results seen as referendum

Richmond (Virginia), Nov. 8: Donald Trump suffered a humiliating and humbling triple defeat, with Democrats winning high-profile state and mayoral elections, dousing any exuberance on Wednesday’s anniversary of his dramatic election win and underscoring the struggles he faces as an unpopular President.

The results of Tuesday night elections amount to a sweeping repudiation of what critics have called Mr Trump’s politics of division, and a test of his influence ahead of electoral battles looming on the state and national

level. In the bruising election that tested the power of Mr Trump’s fiery nationalism against the energy of the Trump resistance, the most damaging defeat was in Virginia, a state bordering Washington seen as a bellwether for national politics with the country gearing up for the 2018 congressional elections and the next presidential contest in 2020.

The Virginia governor’s race had all the makings of a nailbiter, but in the end, Lieutenant Governor Ralph Northam trounced his Republican rival Ed Gillespie by an unexpectedly wide nine percentage points in the southern battleground state.

In New Jersey, Democrat Phil Murphy reclaimed the governorship following eight years of Republican Governor Chris Christie, a onetime ally of Mr Trump.

And in New York, progressive Mayor Bill de Blasio rode a wave of hometown distaste for Mr Trump to cruise to re-election in America’s most populous city.

The resounding victories marked the GOP’s most significant day of defeat in the young Trump presidency and a rebuke to the president himself as his party eyes a suddenly more threatening midterm election season next year.

“The Democratic Party is back, my friends,” said Democratic National Committee chairman Tom Perez.