Democrats jolted by state polls

Republican gains in Virginia signal threat for Biden in midterm elections

FAIRFAX, Virginia－Republican Glenn Youngkin won the election for Virginia governor and another Republican was within striking distance in New Jersey's gubernatorial contest on Wednesday. The demonstration of support for the GOP portends dangers for President Joe Biden's Democrats as they head into congressional elections in the United States next year.

Youngkin, a former private equity executive who surged in the polls in the campaign's final weeks, beat Democratic former governor Terry McAuliffe, The Associated Press reported.

The elections were the first major tests of voter sentiment since Biden took office in January. And they offered stern warnings heading into the midterm elections that the party's thin majority in Congress was in peril.

Having never held elected office, Youngkin sold himself as a political outsider while seeking to rally suburban voters around hot-button issues like how to handle the discussion of racism in schools and COVID-19 mask mandates.

The election, a neck-and-neck tussle for weeks, resonated nationwide as a proxy war between Biden and former president Donald Trump, who gave Youngkin his early backing, Agence France-Presse commented.

During the campaign, Youngkin stated his support for "election integrity", a nod at Trump's claim that the 2020 presidential election was stolen, while also focusing on education and business-friendly policies. He never campaigned in person with Trump, successfully challenging McAuliffe's effort to cast him as a clone of the former president.

Trump, meanwhile, sought to claim credit for Youngkin's victory.

"I would like to thank my BASE for coming out in force and voting for Glenn Youngkin. Without you, he would not have been close to winning," he said in one of three statements about the race on Tuesday.

Youngkin will succeed outgoing Governor Ralph Northam, a Democrat. Under Virginia state law, governors cannot serve consecutive terms. McAuliffe, 64, served as governor from 2014 to 2018.

Youngkin struck a careful balance when it came to Trump, accepting the former Republican president's endorsement but avoiding frequent mention of him on the campaign trail. The strategy could offer a road map for Republicans trying to woo back suburban moderates in the 2022 elections, Reuters commented.

Voters in Virginia cited the economy as their top concern, according to an exit poll by CNN, ahead of education, taxes and the pandemic.

In New Jersey's closer-than-expected governor race, Republican Jack Ciattarelli held a narrow lead over incumbent Democrat Phil Murphy with about 80 percent of the vote tallied, though some Democratic strongholds were still counting ballots. Murphy was trying to become the first Democrat reelected to the office in 44 years.

Asian-American mayors

Elsewhere in the country on Tuesday, mayoral contests helped shape the leadership of some of the nation's largest cities. Democratic former police captain Eric Adams won in New York, and Boston voters elected city councilor Michelle Wu, the city's first female Asian-American mayor. Cincinnati is getting its first Asian-American mayor, Aftab Pureval.

Adams, who will become the second black mayor of the largest US city, first triumphed this summer in a crowded Democratic primary after he struck a nuanced stance on law enforcement issues. His message on crime and his experience as a police officer insulated him from attacks from his Republican opponent Curtis Sliwa, the founder of the Guardian Angels anti-crime patrol group.

In Boston, Wu, a Democrat, espoused a more liberal approach to policing and called for bigger reforms, but her history-making win came in a campaign dominated more by debates about issues such as affordable housing.

Agencies and China Daily contributed to this story.