Election results: Murphy hangs on in New Jersey as Democratic blame game over Virginia begins
GOP victory in blue-trending state heaps pressure on president struggling with approval ratings
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Your support makes all the difference.Republican Glenn Youngkin has defeated Democrat Terry McAuliffe in a tight race for Virginia’s governor’s seat.
It is a blow for Joe Biden who had promoted Mr McAuliffe as “the proven leader who will move Virginia forward”. The president, whose national approval ratings are in the gutter, ignored reporters’ questions as he returned to the White House on Wednesday following his trip to Cop26.
Mr McAuliffe wanted to return to the office he left four years ago and tried to link Mr Youngkin to Donald Trump, hoping Democrats’ dislike for the former president would motivate them in a state Mr Biden carried by 10 points in 2020.
Mr Youngkin focused on culture-war topics like “election integrity” and how racial inequality is taught in school, appealing to Mr Trump’s base but avoiding campaigning with him in person. He benefited from high turnout in rural areas, according to the AP.
Meanwhile, Democratic governor Phil Murphy is in a dead heat in New Jersey against Republican challenger Jack Ciattarelli. And in New York City, Democrat Eric Adams defeated the GOP’s Curtis Sliwa in the mayoral race.
Welcome to The Independent’s live coverage of Tuesday’s elections across the US
Elections analyst Dave Wasserman has ‘seen enough’ in the Virginia governor’s race – he predicts Youngkin wins
Dave Wasserman, elections analyst and editor of the Cook Political Report, has issued his first “I’ve seen enough” of the night: “Glenn Youngkin (R) defeats Terry McAuliffe (D) in the Virginia governor’s race.”
CBS, NBC and Washington Post models tilt to Republican victory in Virginia governor’s race
With roughly 60 per cent of the votes tallied, elections analysts are predicting Glenn Youngkin winning the race for Virginia governor.
Trump weighs in
As votes roll in from Democratically leaning Fairfax County, Donald Trump chimes in to suggest – baselessly and totally unsurprisingly – that there’s something wrong with the electoral process.
Polls are now closed in New York, and all eyes are on the results of the mayoral races in New York City and Buffalo, which could elect its first Black woman mayor ever, and one of the first socialist mayors in the US in decades.
Former NYPD captain and Brooklyn borough president Eric Adams is heavily favoured to win the race for New York City’s next mayor.
NYC voters also are electing comptroller, public advocate, members of city council, and voting on several ballot measures, among other races.
Eric Adams projected to win New York City mayor’s race
Democratic candidate Eric Adams will be New York City’s next mayor, the Associated Press has projected.
He defeated long-shot GOP candidate Curtis Sliwa.
Pittsburgh will have its first Black mayor ever, CNN is projecting. The network said 51-year Ed Gainey, an African-American, was set to win the race.
Who is Eric Adams? Meet the NYC’s next mayor
Read The Independent’s profile of the city’s second-ever Black mayor, a former police officer and Brooklyn boss:
Meet Eric Adams: The rat-hating, gun-toting former Republican in line to be New York City’s next mayor
The Democratic primary winner is likely to be elected as the city’s second ever Black mayor, writes Alex Woodward
Minneapolis voters reject proposal to replace police
Minneapolis voters have rejected a ballot measure to replace the city’s police department with a public safety programme, coming 18 months after the murder of George Floyd that prompted international demands for reform.
The Independent’s Josh Marcus has more on the genesis of the proposal and what’s next:
Minneapolis voters head to the polls to decide on whether to defund the police
The vote will show where the city stands on policing after the 2020 murder of George Floyd, which touched off national civil rights protests
The scene at Terry McAuliffe’s election night party
The Associated Press has not yet made the call in the Virginia governor’s race, though analysts are forecasting a likely victory for Republican candidate Glenn Youngkin – as well as GOP victories for the state’s attorney general and lieutenant governor in a sweep.
Meanwhile:
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