Election Day results show some shifts in our country

Terry McAuliffe, the former Virginia governor who lost a race for his former position last week, made it clear during the campaign that he believed professional educators were better equipped to determine what school children should learn rather than their parents who may not be qualified in that regard. He should have kept that to himself.

Many people think they know better than the professionals, especially parents. Politicians need to realize these things, whether they are logical or not. Gov.-elect Glenn Youngkin sided with the parents and also indicated he was going to cancel sales tax on groceries. McAuliffe didn’t stand a chance.

The other gubernatorial election last week took place in

New Jersey. Gov. Phil Murphy found out that he was not quite so popular by narrowly winning reelection. Apparently, he lost the trust of much of suburban New Jersey. Without the votersuppression laws that were passed elsewhere, New Jersey’s urban voters made a difference. Similar candidates in states with recent changes to voter laws may not be so fortunate.

Last week’s Minneapolis vote on police reform went nowhere. The mandate is that voters want people with guns protecting them, even if there is periodic misbehavior by law enforcement. The Oregon city of Eugene has the answer. It’s program, titled Crisis Assistance Helping Out On The Streets (CAHOOTS), for 911 responses is a good model.

Additionally, mayoral races took place in several cities around the U.S. Michelle Wu, who is Asian-American, won the Boston mayoral race. It is the first time Boston, a city established nearly 200 years ago, did not elect a White man. A revitalized Detroit reelected their mayor. One of his promises was that he would tear down the old Packard plant. New York City elected a Democrat, but that is no surprise. Republicans are heavily outnumbered in that city.

— Bernard F. Cookson,

Mill Valley