Republican leads Virginia governor's race seen as test of Biden's first term

 

A bruising governor's election in the US state of Virginia looked set to go down to the wire Tuesday with the Republican candidate's lead narrowing in a race seen as an early verdict on President Joe Biden's first year in office.

Newcomer Glenn Youngkin https://forum.adguard.com/index.php?members/jertyzoler01.52764/#about and veteran https://os.mbed.com/users/jertyzoler01/ Democrat Terry McAuliffe both voiced confidence as they addressed supporters in the neck-and-neck tussle resonating nationwide as a proxy war between Biden and former president Donald https://www.pebforum.com/members/jertyzoler01.126251/#about Trump. 

With 94 percent of the expected https://www.capitalcichlids.org/forums/members/jertyzoler01.32206/#about vote counted, Youngkin's early double-digit lead was https://bukkit.org/members/jertyzoler01.91388083/ down to just three points -- a margin expected to narrow further as more northern counties near strongly Democratic Washington report results.https://forum.kajgana.com/members/jertyzoler01.149997/#about

"The fight continues," McAuliffe https://forum.gekko.wizb.it/user-9535.html told supporters at his campaign headquarters in Richmond, https://www.chilli-grower.uk/members/jerty-zoler.13867/ adding that "every single Virginian https://tinhte.vn/members/jerty-zoler.2872221/ deserves to have their vote counted."

A harbinger of the parties' prospects https://forum.zenstudios.com/member/3565046-jertyzoler01/about in next year's https://forum.joaoapps.com/index.php?members/jerty-zoler.121617/ midterm elections, the race was initially expected to be https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/jertyzoler01.569146/#about a comfortable Democratic win but instead became a toss-up in the closing days of the campaign.

A private equity multi-millionaire https://www.dohtheme.com/community/members/jerty-zoler.32061/ who has never run for office defeating a https://www.droidforums.net/members/jertyzoler01.452872/#about former popular Democratic governor would spell disaster for Biden https://developers.oxwall.com/user/jertyzoler01 going into the all-important 2022 races that will determine who controls Congress.http://www.globalvision2000.com/forum/member.php?action=profile&uid=355137

"Folks, this stopped being a campaign a long https://forum.proxmox.com/members/jertyzoler01.134209/#about time ago and it started being a movement led by all of you," Youngkin, who https://historum.com/members/jertyzoler01.68642/#about has poured at least $20 million of his https://electricbikereview.com/forums/members/jertyzoler01.48308/#about own fortune into the race, said to cheering fans as initial results came in.

If he wins, Youngkin's campaign https://www.cossacks3.com/forum/index.php?members/jerty-zoler.28121/ will likely become a blueprint https://www.alldeaf.com/members/jertyzoler01.105771/#about for Republicans across the country as they strategize on how to handle the specter of Trump in the midterms.http://mossbergowners.com/forum/index.php?members/jertyzoler01.23575/

Difficult year

The Democratic https://desu.me/members/jerty-zoler.46258/ faithful badly wanted the race to be a referendum on Trump but in reality he https://www.craftau.com.au/members/jertyzoler01.22906/ has had little to do with the https://postflaviana.org/community/index.php?members/jertyzoler01.4213/#about campaign and was never likely to prove the galvanizing nemesis they had hoped for.

Early in the campaign, Youngkin https://freewebsitetemplates.com/members/Jerty%20Zoler/ accepted Trump's endorsement and has steered https://singaporebrides.com/weddingforum/members/jertyzoler01.190466/#about clear of criticizing the twice-impeached former president.http://forum.gcreate.com/index.php?members/jertyzoler01.6141/#about

But he has also pointedly avoided https://jartexnetwork.com/members/jertyzoler01.227641/#about standing next to the Republican leader, who https://xtremepape.rs/members/jertyzoler01.317884/#about is seen as toxic among independents in much  of Virginia, or presenting himself as a Trump acolyte.

https://forum.omegarealm.com/members/jertyzoler01.60608/#about

A McAuliffe loss https://www.degreeinfo.com/index.php?members/jerty-zoler.97088/ would almost certainly spook moderates on https://forums.anandtech.com/members/jertyzoler01.474303/#about Capitol Hill and drive some away from https://thefappeningblog.com/forum/members/jertyzoler01.660588/about supporting Biden's stalled $3 trillion vision for remaking the economy.

The long delays on passing promised  https://applecraft.org/community/members/jerty-zoler.42689/social welfare and infrastructure packages are an echo of 2009-10, when the Democrats suffered big losses amid gridlock in Washington. https://forum.tracerplus.com/members/jertyzoler01.7728/#about A win, however, could embolden them to speed things up in Congress. https://xenforo.com/community/threads/hydrossential-serum-reviews.199879/

Elections were also being http://forums.unigame.me/member/1079623-ug914603/about held in multiple other states, with voters overwhelmingly backing Democrat Eric Adams for mayor of New York and Democratic New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy just https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/profile/2618448-jertyzoler01/?tab=field_core_pfield_13 behind in a surprisingly close reelection battle he was nevertheless expected win.https://mc-drugs.com/members/jertyzoler01.25127/#about

But Virginia is where the battle lines appear https://toucharcade.com/community/members/jerty-zoler.512402/ most visibly drawn.

Culture war 

As he tries to mount a return https://www.razorbackreef.com/index.php?members/jerty-zoler.1832/ to an office he held four years ago, McAuliffe has faced significant headwinds, with the majority party in Washington usually incurring losses during https://jertyzoler01.blog2learn.com/52450558/hydrossential-serum-reviews a president's first term.

Youngkin has been https://fabulouspanda.com/forum/discussion/3326/hydrossential-serum-reviews/p1 performing his own high-wire act, as the vast majority of Republicans believe Trump's false claims that the presidency was stolen in a fraudulent http://newdigital-world.com/members/jertyzoler01.html election, making acknowledging the truth politically risky.

He has instead turned the https://www.trainsim.com/vbts/member.php?477972-jertyzoler01conversation to local "culture war" issues like abortion, mask http://mehfeel.net/mehfeel/forum/topic/42399 mandates and the teaching of America's racial history.

McAuliffe took an early lead in the http://www.galaxyforums.net/forum/members/55591.html race but his seven-point cushion evaporated in the final days, with a polling average by political analysis website FiveThirtyEight showing Youngkin https://jnhost.co.id/forum/members/jertyzoler01.17216/#about ahead by one point on election day. 

Leaning into his image as the establishment https://fastestnewsrelease.blogspot.com/2021/11/france-says-will-provide-shelter-end.html candidate, the 64-year-old McAuliffe sold himself as a former incumbent who brought back jobs after the worldwide financial crisis of 2008, and pledged to repeat the trick for the pandemic.

"I really hope that we can get a lead on the Democratic side but I do think it's going to be a tight vote," Kaela Rose-Murdock told AFP as she cast her ballot in Falls Church, part of the Washington metropolitan area. 

"I see a lot of support for Youngkin around, and that's very concerning for me -- especially in northern Virginia."