Va., NJ election results jolt Democrats
But Murphy’s victory helps ease pain after defeat of McAuliffe
RICHMOND, Va. — Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy of New Jersey narrowly won reelection Wednesday, eking out a victory that spared Democrats the loss of a second gubernatorial seat.
The victory gives Democrats a silver lining after GOP businessman Glenn Youngkin defeated Terry McAuliffe in Virginia’s gubernatorial race — exacerbating worries that President Joe Biden’s sagging approval ratings are hurting the party.
Republican Jack Ciattarelli waged a formidable campaign in heavily Democratic New Jersey, his spending nearly equaling the governor’s and outpacing the GOP’s performance four years ago.
In Virginia, Youngkin became the first Republican to win statewide office in a dozen years, tapping into culture war fights over schools and race to unite former President Donald Trump’s most fervent supporters with enough suburban voters to notch a victory.
The two states’ results were alarming to Democrats because of where they happened. Biden carried Virginia by 10 points last year. He took New Jersey by more than 15. Given the scale of those victories, neither state was seen as especially competitive when this year’s campaigns began.
But the first major elections of Biden’s presidency suggested growing discontent among voters. They also underscored that, with Trump out of office, Democrats can’t center their messages on opposition to him. The results ultimately pointed to a potentially painful year ahead for Democrats as they try to maintain thin majorities in Congress.
And they put a new focus on congressional Democrats’ inability so far to pass Biden’s massive domestic policy legislation, though it’s unclear whether the defeat will be enough to jolt his party into action.
Biden, speaking Wednesday from the White House, said Democrats need to “produce for the American people.”
Biden made the comments to reporters after delivering remarks to highlight what he said was a “great day” in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic as children 5 to 11 became eligible to begin receiving the preventive vaccine.
Republicans celebrated their strong showing with Youngkin telling a cheering crowd of supporters that “this is the spirit of Virginia coming together like never before.”
The GOP’s strength extended to down-ballot contests, including the lieutenant governor’s race, which Winsome Sears won, becoming the first woman of color to win Virginia statewide office.
McAuliffe formally conceded Wednesday in a statement that congratulated Youngkin.
“Losing is never easy,” he said. “We put ourselves out there and left it all on the field.”
A political neophyte, Youngkin was able to take advantage of apparent apathy among core Democratic voters fatigued by years of elections that were seen as must-wins, as well as growing frustrations with Biden and the economy. He successfully portrayed McAuliffe, a former Virginia governor, Democratic National Committee chairman and friend of Bill and Hillary Clinton, as part of an elite class of politicians.
He also seized on a late-stage stumble by McAuliffe, who during a debate performance suggested parents should have a minimal role in shaping school curriculums.
Perhaps most significantly, Youngkin prevailed in a task that has stumped scores of Republicans before him: attracting Trump’s base while also appealing to suburban voters who were repelled by the former president’s divisive behavior.
During the campaign, Youngkin stated his support for “election integrity,” a nod at Trump’s lie that the 2020 presidential election was stolen, while also focusing on education and business-friendly policies. He never campaigned in person with Trump, successfully challenging McAuliffe’s effort to cast him as a clone of the former president.
That approach could provide a model for Republicans competing in future races that feature significant numbers of Democratic or independent voters.
Elsewhere in the country Tuesday, mayoral contests helped shape the leadership of some of the nation’s largest cities.
Democratic former police captain Eric Adams won in New York, and Boston voters elected City Councilor Michelle Wu, the city’s first female and Asian American mayor. Cincinnati is getting its first Asian American mayor, Aftab Pureval.
Minneapolis voters rejected a ballot initiative that sought to overhaul policing in their city, where George Floyd was killed by a white police officer on Memorial Day 2020, sparking the largest wave of protests against racial injustice in generations. The initiative would have replaced the police force with a Department of Public Safety charged with undertaking “a comprehensive public health” approach to policing.
But no other contest in this off-year election season received the level of attention as the governor’s race in Virginia, a state with broad swaths of college-educated suburban voters who are increasingly influential in swaying control of Congress and the White House.