Cincinnati, too, is getting its first Asian American mayor, Aftab Pureval.
Democratic former police captain Eric Adams won in New York City, and Boston voters elected City Councilor Michelle Wu, the city’s first female Asian American mayor. Louis, Detroit and Seattle promised to reshape leadership in many of the nation’s largest cities. Meanwhile, mayoral contests from New York and Boston to St. Phil Murphy was in a close fight as he sought to become the first Democratic governor to win reelection there in more than four decades. In addition to the stinging loss for the Democrats in Virginia, New Jersey Gov. It can come in a smile and a fleece vest,” Biden said, likening protesters in January’s deadly insurrection to Youngkin’s favorite campaign attire. It can come in the rage of a mob driven to assault the Capitol. Youngkin proved perhaps most successful in deflecting McAuliffe’s efforts to tie him to Trump and the former president’s divisive political style.Įven Biden, who made his second trip of the 2021 campaign to suburban Arlington just a week before Election Day on McAuliffe’s behalf, hammered the point, calling Youngkin a “Trump acolyte.” While McAuliffe pulled on the star power of a host of national Democrats, including former President Barack Obama and ex-Georgia governor candidate Stacey Abrams, Youngkin largely campaigned on his own, focusing on issues he said were important to Virginians. Murphy was seeking his second term, while McAuliffe spent years as a top political fundraiser for Bill and Hillary Clinton before being elected Virginia governor in 2013.
And not since 1977 has a New Jersey Democrat won a second consecutive term.īut they also glossed over their candidates’ obvious shortcomings.ĭemocrats privately acknowledged they may have underestimated the extent to which voters continue to dislike political insiders in the post-Trump era. Indeed, only once in the last 40 years has a Virginia candidate won the governor’s race when their party held the White House. Voters who ranked the economy and education as the top issues were more likely to back Youngkin over McAuliffe.ĭemocrats quickly explained away their struggles by pointing to historical patterns. About twice as many cited economy and jobs, while 17% named COVID-19. Overall, 14% of Virginia voters said education was the most important issue facing the state, according to VoteCast. “Across the country, I think the suburbs are coming back to us.” “That struck a nerve with parents, including me,” said Republican National Committee Chair Ronna McDaniel, suggesting the issue could help Republicans in the future.
The issue tapped into suburban parents’ deep frustration with pandemic-related forced school closures, which extended across the state for much of last year. The comment, taken out of context during a discussion about banning books, became a centerpiece of Youngkin’s campaign, which quickly launched a “Parents Matter” effort reinforced by heavy advertising spending. To appeal to Trump’s base, he railed against “critical race theory,” an academic framework that isn’t taught in Virginia schools, but centers on the idea that racism is systemic in the nation’s institutions and that they function to maintain the dominance of white people.īut the broader issue of education didn’t begin to resonate more intensely until McAuliffe quipped during a late-September debate that, “I don’t think parents should be telling schools what they should teach.” Taking a page from Democrats, the Virginia Republican promised to boost teacher pay and spend more on local schools than ever before.
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