Defeat for Biden - Republicans win in Virginia

The Democrats were confident of victory - now they are experiencing a disaster.

A Republican becomes governor of Virginia.

In New Jersey, the counting is still going on - it's a dramatic neck-and-neck race.

Washington - Bitter pill for US President Joe Biden: According to forecasts, Republican candidate Glenn Youngkin won the gubernatorial election in the US state of Virginia.

He narrowly defeated the Democrat Terry McAuliffe, who was supported by Biden, according to unanimous predictions from various broadcasters on Wednesday night.

The election was considered an important mood test a year before the congressional elections - the whole country looked at the state on the east coast.

The gubernatorial election in the US state of New Jersey also saw a narrow defeat for Biden's Democrats - but a final result was not yet certain.

In New York, the Democrat Eric Adams prevailed in the mayoral election.

Supported by Trump

The 54-year-old Youngkin was supported in the election campaign by ex-President Donald Trump - even if he publicly distanced himself from him and focused on moderate voters.

A head-to-head race had already emerged before the election, but in the summer the Democrat McAuliffe was still ahead.

For Republicans in Virginia, it was also a question of whether they could score points with moderate swing voters in rural areas.

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Terry McAuliffe, Democratic candidate for Virginia gubernatorial election, gestures at a campaign rally on the eve of the election.

© Brian Cahn / ZUMA Press Wire / dpa

In the presidential election a year ago, Biden easily won in Virginia and New Jersey.

The close result of the gubernatorial elections a year before the mid-term elections is a debacle for the Democrats.

In the vote next year, your wafer-thin majority in Congress is at stake.

Trump's Republicans then want to regain control in the Senate and the House of Representatives.

According to observers, the vote, especially in Virginia, is a testament to Biden's policies, who have ruled the White House for almost a year.

His approval ratings are worse than ever since he took office.

Wing fighting among the Democrats

He has long tried unsuccessfully to get two investment packages through Congress. Biden has so far failed because of wing battles in his own democratic party. On the other hand, he did not want to know that his political performance could have an impact on the election result. "I haven't seen any evidence that whether I'm doing well or badly, whether or not I've got my agenda through, will have any real impact on victory or defeat," he said before the vote.

The past few months have been marked by numerous setbacks for Biden.

In addition to the internal party dispute over Biden's investment packages, the chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan also did not make the president look good.

The corona pandemic continued to trouble the country - the delta variant drove the numbers up in the summer.

The vaccination against the virus is making slow progress.

Biden relies on compulsory vaccination in many areas - a topic that polarizes in the USA.

The economic upturn is also sluggish - there are also delivery bottlenecks as a result of the pandemic.

"Follower of Trump"

Biden tried especially to connect the Republican candidate in Virginia with Trump.

"Terry is up against a supporter of Donald Trump," said Biden at a campaign rally in Arlington.

McAuliffe also tried to move his political opponent close to Trump and called him, for example, "Trump in khaki pants".

Shortly before the polling stations closed, Biden was confident of victory.

"We will win.

I think we'll win in Virginia, ”he said at the climate summit in Glasgow.

It landed back in Washington around the same time as Youngkin's victory was announced.

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Democratic President Joe Biden described Republican candidate Glenn Youngkin as a "supporter of Donald Trump".

© Cliff Owen / FR170079 AP / dpa

Republican Youngkin even caught up with the Democratic candidate in polls.

McAuliffe, aged 64, was governor from 2014 to 2018, and Youngkin is a successful businessman.

He tried to keep his distance from Trump publicly.

The Republican presented himself as an exemplary suburban father and made education, for example, an issue.

He advocated a greater influence of parents on teaching content.

In his victory speech, he promised to change Virginia from day one.

He drew a picture of politicians who only wanted to enrich themselves.

That changes now with him.

Fear of non-voters

In the current elections, the Democrats feared above all that many of their supporters would not vote because Trump is no longer in office as a specter of horror.

That is also why they must have tried to make Trump an issue again and again.

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Glenn Youngkin, governor-elect of Virginia, gives a thumbs up at an election party after defeating Democrat McAuliffe.

© Andrew Harnik / AP / dpa

Unsurprisingly, Democrat Eric Adams won the mayoral election in the metropolis of New York on Tuesday evening.

Adams was considered a moderate candidate who wants to lead the office with a course between left and centrist forces.

In Minneapolis, however, an initiative mainly supported by Democrats to abolish the police force in its current form was rejected.

Since the brutal death of the African American George Floyd, the debate about how to deal with the police has been dividing the United States.

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How great the meaningfulness of the election results in Virginia and New Jersey is, however, is open.

After Trump was elected president in 2016, Democrats won the governorships in Virginia and New Jersey.

In contrast, the Republicans won the gubernatorial elections in both states after Barack Obama was elected president in 2008. In Virginia, governors are not allowed to run for two consecutive terms.

But you can - like McAuliffe - compete a second time later.

The current governor is Democrat Ralph Northam.

The state borders on the US capital Washington.

dpa