RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Polls were closing Tuesday night in the nation’s most closely watched off-year election as Virginia voters chose between Democrat Terry McAuliffe and Republican Glenn Youngkin in a campaign that became partly a referendum on President Joe Biden’s first year in office.
Barely 12 months after Biden captured the state by 10 points, the governor’s race was supposed to be a comfortable win for Democrats. Instead, McAuliffe, a prominent figure in Democratic politics and a former Virginia governor, was locked in a dead heat with former business executive Youngkin as he tried to reclaim the post.
Well, then we lost the expectations game. Since it was supposed to be a comfy W and instead it's a dead then it's a l; be a L if the Republican is actually elected.
...voters saw the economy as the top issue, followed by the coronavirus pandemic, according to AP VoteCast, a survey of statewide voters.
The final results, though, may ultimately be interpreted as an early judgment of Biden. The closeness of the race indicated just how much his political fortunes have changed in a short period. The White House has been shaken in recent months by the chaotic withdrawal of U.S. forces from Afghanistan, a sometimes sluggish economic recovery amid the pandemic and a legislative agenda at risk of stalling on Capitol Hill.
A loss in a state that has trended toward Democrats for more than a decade would deepen the sense of alarm inside the party heading into next year’s midterm elections, when control of Congress is at stake. ...
