Although it’s an off-year — of sorts, states around the country were set to see the conclusions of very significant races on Tuesday. Among the most prominent examples was the Virginia governor’s race, in which Democrat (and former governor) Terry McAuliffe was running against Republican nominee Glenn Youngkin for the state’s top job. Ahead of Election Day, polls indicated the race to be close — FiveThirtyEight’s weighted average of surveys put Youngkin ahead by a small margin, even though Virginia has leaned towards the Democrats in recent elections. (The last Republican presidential nominee to win there was George W. Bush.) Former President Barack Obama encouraged voters to show up and vote on Tuesday.
The former president commented as follows:
‘Today is Election Day, and so much of what we care about is on the ballot––from access to health care to bringing our economy back from COVID-19 to combating climate change. We need everybody going out to vote. So make a plan to vote, and make your voice heard. Visit iwillvote.com to find your polling location. And if you have any questions, call the voter hotline at 833-336-8683.’
Visit https://t.co/XdZz4dh82T to find your polling location. And if you have any questions, call the voter hotline at 833-336-8683.
— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) November 2, 2021
Other states also had high-profile elections on Tuesday, like the governor’s race in New Jersey, but there, Democratic incumbent Phil Murphy has consistently led in recent surveys. The last Republican presidential nominee to win New Jersey was Ronald Reagan, although the state has had a Republican governor much more recently than that. Still, the tilt of that particular race seemed pretty obvious heading into Tuesday. In Virginia, McAuliffe’s campaign has ran with the support of prominent Democrats ranging from voting rights activist and former Georgia state legislator Stacey Abrams to President Joe Biden himself. In recent remarks on McAuliffe’s behalf, Abrams laid out what’s at stake, telling listeners as follows:
‘If you want to figure out what could happen to you in 9 days if you don’t get out and vote, pick up a newspaper that talks about Georgia. If you want to know what happens in 9 days, if we don’t get out and vote, look at what’s happening in Texas. If you want to know what happens to Virginia, if we don’t vote, if you don’t turn out on November the 2nd, then remember what you felt like in November of 2016.’
In addition to other issues, in both Texas and Georgia, Republican leaders on the state level have recently imposed draconian restrictions on the electoral process. What will unfold in Virginia remains to be seen.
