United States: Republicans win local elections in Virginia

Slap. A year after placing confidence in Joe Biden in the 2020 presidential election, with a 10-point lead, Virginia sent a strong message to the Democratic government on Tuesday night by handing over the state governorship to Republican Glenn Youngkin. Support and dubbing Donald Trump. He was the first Republican to return to a key election in Virginia for 12 years.

With a partnership described as “very strong” by election officials, the Virginians refused to give Democrat Terry McAliffe a second term.

The results of this local election The whole country followed Because of its holding in the first difficult months of the Biden government, for 44 years, Washington has confirmed a tradition in the state of electing a governor who does not represent the party in power.

Only one person succeeded in breaking this logic in 2013: Terry McAliffe came to support his campaign in the last days, during his first term in the Barack Obama administration. Joe Biden and Kamala Harris also took part in the campaign, with voters worried about the risks of pushing the Republican victory backwards.

The hardships of the Biden government

“Democrats are watching this election closely, and during the presidential election they played the same anti-Trump strategy against Youngkin,” commented Alexandra Reckendorf, a political scientist and expert on voter behavior and political opinion at the University of Virginia’s Commonwealth. This time the strategy was in vain.

According to her, the vote was somewhat influenced by the difficulties faced by the Joe Biden government in upholding the promises of social programs and ambitious environmental policies and this was due to numerous legislative barriers that came from both the Republican camp and his own party. . “For some voters, Democrats are failing to keep their promises,” she said. And their vote eliminates the trust that the ruling party no longer deserves. “

With the support of Donald Trump, Youngkin refused to appear in his presence throughout the campaign, to avoid comparisons. The Republican candidate did not fail to highlight the opposition camp that the former president called the “Alter Ego.” In a written statement on Monday, Donald Trump promised to “stay very close” with Youngkin and that the two men “firmly believe in the same policies.”

Glenn Youngkin’s victory also marks the most conservative and ethical speech ever made by a 54-year-old politician – Carlyle Group’s top executive, investment fundEstablishment Republican – worn during his campaign. In public Against the vaccine Or wearing mandatory masks for children, speaking out for parents who are concerned about seeing complex theories about racism and institutional racism to reach school curricula in Republican public schools. The facts do not support this fear, however: these theories are not taught to children in Virginia.

Other votes

Elsewhere in the country, the New Jersey governor kept voters in suspense for a long time 24 hours after the race ended. Although his Republican opponent Jack Ciatrelli surprisingly followed him, Democrat Phil Murphy was able to retain his seat after a very short victory announced by the Associated Press in the evening. Mr Murphy – often described as one of the most progressive governors in the country – received 50% of the vote, compared to 49.2% in the evening count. At the time of this writing, Republicans still do not acknowledge success.

Tuesday election night was also quickly sanctified The victory of Democrat Eric Adams For the mayor of New York, the second African-American mayor in the history of the megalopolis. Boston City Councilor Michelle Wu was also elected, making her the first woman mayor of Asian descent to be elected to the city.

Several popular initiative referendums have also pushed voters to the polls. Voters in Minneapolis voted exclusively on “replacing police services with public security services” a year later. Assassination of George Floyd And the birth of the motto “Define police”. In this great city of Minnesota more than 56% of the people voted against. If the move becomes popular, the functions of the police service will be determined by the mayor and the city council and more resources will be given to hire psychosocial workers.

With Jean-Louis Bordeaux

This report is partially funded by the Transat International Journalism Fund –Destiny.

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