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
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
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.
97-year-old mayor wins reelection
The 97-year-old mayor of Tinton Falls, New Jersey, Vito Perillo has won reelection after getting 2,209 votes and beating three challengers for the job.
“I’m happy, I’m happy the election is over. We’ve got a good group of people in town and we work well together. I just want to do good for the residents of the borough,” the World War II veteran said, according to Ashbury Park Press.
While the records of the country’s oldest mayor are not officially kept Mr Perillo is now likely the keeper of that title following the passing of Mayor Charles Long, of Booneville, Kentucky, who died two years ago at the age of 99.
Mr Perillo’s closest challenger was 59-year-old retired teacher Ellen Goldberg, who received 1,898 votes.
Magic mushrooms, $15 minimum wage, and the future of police: How progressive ballot measures fared on Election Day
The future of policing has been at the forefront of several elections across the US, following international demands for urgent police reform in the wake of the murder of George Floyd and a failure among members of Congress to reach an agreement on a national police reform bill to be named in his honour.
Criminal justice and crime emerged as key issues in the race for the next mayor of New York, and reform efforts also were central in mayoral races in Atlanta, Cleveland, and Seattle.
Though voters in Minneapolis shot down a proposal to transform the city’s police department into a first-of-its-kind public safety agency, voters in several other cities overwhelmingly approved measures that will give civilians greater oversight of police misconduct cases.
While national narratives tend to drive the “all politics is presidential” lesson from 2021 elections, local candidates and down-ticket measures backed by progressive groups counted several victories, from the election of new mayors in Boston and Cleveland to progressive-led ballot initiatives like the decriminalisation of psychedelic mushrooms in Detroit and citywide rent control in St Paul, Minnesota.
Voters supported a $15 minimum wage in Tucson, Arizona – notably, the hometown of Senator Kyrsten Sinema, who gave a “thumbs down” vote on the floor of the US Senate to raising the federal minimum wage earlier this year.
How progressive ballot measures fared on Election Day
From drug decriminalisation and reparations in Detroit to rent control in St Paul
High turnout in Virginia on both sides of the aisle despite fading Trump
University of Florida professor Michael McDonald noted on Twitter that Virginia’s governor’s race revealed that turnout and engagement among voters on both sides of the aisle remain high months after former President Donald Trump left the White House.
Dr McDonald tweeted that Democrats are “still voting at levels that helped them win in 2017 and 2018, if not higher,” but that “the difference is Republicans are mobilized even more”.
“It is a lot easier to inflame passion by being against something than for it,” he added. “People tend to react differently to potential losses than gains. This explains midterm loss for the president’s party. The Democrats are deeply challenged to inflame passions to keep up with Republicans.”
He tweeted that “midterm election tends to draw higher turnout among some of [Democrats’] core constituencies, like young people,” but that wouldn’t necessarily save them from painful losses because “larger currents” are in play.
Manchin says Dems ‘better be very careful’ on spending after Virginia loss
Democratic West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin, one of the last holdouts on the party’s social spending plans, has said that they have to be “very careful … and make sure it’s transparent,” when asked on Wednesday about the legislative proposals.
“Country’s very divided, they’d like to see us come together,” he added, according to Axios.
“When you look at Southwest Virginia – that’s my entire state, so these are people I talk to all the time,” Mr Manchin said. “And I knew what they were concerned about, they were concerned about inflation, high cost.”
“I think they spoke loud and clear at the voting booth,” he added.
Mitch McConnell claims Democrats 'has wildly misread their mandate’
Republican Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said in a speech on the floor of the Senate on Wednesday that “last night was a difficult evening for Democrats” and that they have “wildly misread their mandate”.
He argued that the elections of Tuesday proved that voters have rejected President Joe Biden’s agenda and the spending plans of the congressional Democrats.
“The American people will not stand for this,” he added. “That’s what voters told Democrats last night all across the country.”
“The results from different parts of our country demonstrate that this was in large part a referendum on national issues,” Mr McConnell said. “But it’s not too late. Democrats should listen to the voters: drop this reckless taxing and spending spree, and stop trying to ram through a socialist transformation that the American people never asked for.”
Michelle Wu becomes first person of colour and woman to be elected Boston mayor
Democrat Michelle Wu has made history: She’s the first woman and person of colour to be elected Boston mayor.
Ms Wu, 36, the daughter of Taiwanese immigrants, defeated fellow Democrat Annissa Essaibi George, 47, in the mayoral runoff after the 14 September primary.
“We are ready to meet this moment. We are ready to become a Boston for everyone,” Ms Wu said in an election night speech to supporters Tuesday.
Essaibi George, who identifies as Arab American, noted the many firsts of Ms Wu’s win in a concession made on Tuesday night. “She is the first woman, first person of colour, and as an Asian American, the first elected to be mayor of Boston,” she said. “I know this is no small feat.”
The campaign in Boston largely focused on spiraling housing costs, education and the city’s opioid crisis. But the race also highlighted the city’s growing diversity. Non-Hispanic white residents now make up fewer than 50 per cent of Boston’s population, according to the 2020 Census, and the shares of Asian and Latino residents have continued to grow.
Taking to the stage amid Korean pop band BTS’s “Dynamite” song, Ms Wu said her movement did not end here.
“We have a lot of work to do,” she said, vowing to work closely with acting Mayor Kim Janey’s team during the transition. “We’re not going to get this done by sitting in the corner office at City Hall, but by bringing City Hall to every block in this city.”
Ms Wu is due to be sworn into office on 16 November, according to the Associated Press.
Read more:
Michelle Wu becomes first person of colour and woman to be elected Boston mayor
Ms Wu is due to be sworn into office on in mid November
‘He’s going to be an exceptional mayor’: New York Mayor Bill de Blasio congratulates successor Eric Adams
New York Mayor Bill de Blasio congratulated NYC mayor-elect and his successor, former NYPD captain Eric Adams, during a press briefing on Wednesday.
“We saw democracy in action yesterday and I want to offer my congratulations to Mayor-elect Eric Adams,” Mr de Blasio told reporters. “I’m really, really excited about what Eric’s going to be doing for New York City going forward.”
“This is a really good day for our city,” the mayor added. “Overwhelmingly, the people of this city said Eric Adams is the right choice to lead us into the future. And I can tell you – I know him well, I’ve known him a long time. I think he’s going to be an exceptional mayor.”
Mr de Blasio said he would be “helping and supporting” Mr Adams “in any way over these next weeks as he gets ready”.
“I think it’s going to be an example of a really great handoff. Eric Adams is going to take us to the next level and help bring this recovery forward in our city,” Mr de Blasio said.
Minneapolis mayor projected to win second term
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey was reelected to a second term, surviving a bitter challenge in a race that focused on calls for changes to policing and racial justice, elections officials announced Wednesday.
Seventeen candidates ran in the race, including many who took issue with the way Mr Frey has handled changes to the police department since one of its officers killed George Floyd last year. Mr Frey, a Democrat, risked his political future and drew the ire of the city’s most liberal voices by opposing a ballot question asking voters to eliminate the police department.
Voters soundly defeated that ballot question on Tuesday but left Mr Frey guessing until Wednesday about his own fate. Frey had 43 per cent of the vote after the first count Tuesday night, which was more than double the support of his closest challengers but short of the more than 50 per cent needed to win outright under the city’s ranked-choice voting system.
Mr Frey was announced the winner after city officials allocated voters’ second-and third-place choices after their first choices were eliminated.
Only a handful of candidates were thought to be serious threats to Mr Frey, with two — Sheila Nezhad and Kate Knuth — teaming up on a strategy that urged voters to leave Mr Frey off their ballots entirely. The pair had the backing of US Rep llhan Omar.
New Jersey Democrats: Our people stayed home
While the race for the New Jersey governor’s mansion hasn’t yet been called, the Democrats believe they’ll win a race that ended up being much closer than initially thought.
One conclusion the team of incumbent Governor Phil Murphy have drawn is that their voters stayed home.
According to CNN, an adviser to Mr Muprhy noted that Democratic areas like Hoboken had low turnout, while more Republican areas like Ocean County had higher turnout.
“You saw astronomical turnout in places like Ocean County where people were up in arms on masks and vaccines,” the adviser told CNN. “What you see is that people who are upset about vaccines and masks were more likely to vote on that than the people who were happy with his progress.”
‘Democrats have to come to terms with wokeism’: Pundits weigh in on disaster result for the left in Virginia
Democrats are absorbing the shock of losing the Virginia gubernatorial election – and the political commentariat are weighing in on what caused the loss and what it means for the party’s future.
High up the list of targets for blame are the progressive left and the failure to pass the Biden agenda through Congress. However, others are pointing out that the result is in fact roughly in line with Virginia’s behaviour in previous off-year elections – and that if exit polling is to be believed, the underlying dynamics of the two parties’ electoral coalitions show little sign of change.
As the results sank in, MSNBC host Joe Scarborough weighed in on Morning Joe with his diagnosis: the Democrats’ embrace of so-called “woke” culture is inevitably hurting them with voters they might otherwise be able to win over.
“People are saying, ‘oh, he won based on something that’s not real, that doesn’t exist, CRT or woke-ism, whatever you want to call it’... People say, ‘oh, it’s because [voters] are racist’. No, they’re lifelong Democrats, and they’re talking about what’s going on on college campuses,” he said.
As Mr Scarborough sees it, many Democrats are blind to the seriousness of this problem because the intensity of the discourse around it smothers public dissent. “Wherever we go, when nobody is watching, when the cameras are off, when people aren’t worried about people calling them bigots, it’s happening,” he claimed. “That played out last night in Virginia.”
Read more:
Pundits weigh in on disaster result for the left in Virginia
Rush to interpret the causes and implications of Terry McAuliffe’s narrow loss is already underway
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments