The Times Herald (Norristown, PA)
Tight Va. governor’s race sets tone on Election Day eve
RICHMOND, VA. (AP) » Democrat Terry McAuliffe and Republican Glenn Youngkin were campaigning in many of the same, highly competitive parts of Virginia on Monday, trying to secure last minute support in a governor’s race that has captured national attention as a major referendum on Joe Biden’s presidency.
McAuliffe, who served as governor from 2014 to 2018, is scrambling to stave off disaster after polling has shifted in Youngkin’s direction in recent weeks. Republicans are optimistic about their chances in the commonwealth, where they haven’t won a statewide race since 2009, and where Biden won by a comfortable 10 points just last year.
Elsewhere, New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy, is trying to secure reelection against Republican former State Assembly member Jack Ciattarelli. If successful, Murphy would be the first Democrat reelected as the state’s governor in 44 years, though New Jersey hasn’t voted Republican for president since 1988.
Mayor’s offices in many of the nation’s largest cities are also up for grabs Tuesday. Democrat Eric Adams, the Brooklyn borough president who is favored to win New York’s mayor’s office, chatted with voters at a subway stop in Queens. His opponent, Republican Curtis Sliwa, planned a news conference with firefighters to protest city mandates requiring firefighters and other city workers to be vaccinated against COVID-19.
A ballot question in Minneapolis, meanwhile, could reshape policing in that community, where the killing of George Floyd last year touched off sweeping demonstrations for racial justice across the nation.
But what happens in Virginia — onetime Republican-leaning territory that has gotten bluer in recent years — promises to have repercussions that may shake both parties.
A McAuliffe win could reassure Democrats heading into next year’s midterm elections, when control of Congress is at stake. An upset by Youngkin, however, would let Republicans say they’ve seized political momentum and don’t plan to relinquish it during the midterms.
Biden’s approval ratings have fallen in recent weeks. And the Democratic-controlled Congress has yet to approve a major public works bill or a sweeping spending package that would dramatically increase government support for the social safety net.
Both McAuliffe and Youngkin were campaigning Monday in greater Richmond, the state capital, whose fast-growing suburbs could swing the race. An energetic crowd of what his campaign said was around 800 people filled a hangar at a small airport for a Youngkin speech that invoked the Founding Fathers.
“This is a moment for Virginians to push back on this left, liberal progressive agenda and take our commonwealth back,” Youngkin said.
Several attendees decried Biden but also complimented Youngkin for keeping the race focused on Virginia, not Washington.
“He’s a straight shooter,” supporter Dan Maloy said of Youngkin. “He cares about the issues that we care about. You know, it’s food on the table. What’s the cost of groceries? What’s the cost of gas? What do we need to do to move Virginia forward?”
The candidates each had stops in Roanoke, and McAuliffe planned a northern Virginia visit for Monday night. Heading that way too was Youngkin, who announced an evening event in Loudoun County, encompassing Washington suburbs that have become the epicenter of parent activist groups who object to school curriculums that include instruction about institutional racism as unAmerican.
Youngkin has made pledges to ensure parents have greater say in what their kids are taught a centerpiece of his campaign — possibly foreshadowing similar arguments GOP candidates will use across the country in races next year.
The overlapping campaigning locales followed each side working to ensure their most ardent supporters were fired up over the weekend. Youngkin visited the far southwest tip of the state, a Republican stronghold.
McAuliffe, who preceded Democrat Ralph Northam as governor in the only state that doesn’t allow its executive to serve consecutive terms, campaigned in Richmond and northern Virginia, both areas that keyed Biden’s win a year ago, saying of the race, “the stakes are huge.”