A blow to Biden: Republican victory in Virginia

A CNN exit poll found that 57 percent of Virginians who voted in Tuesday’s election said they disapprove of Biden’s performance as president.

By Lauren Marcus, World Israel News

In a vote which was widely seen as a referendum on current U.S. President Joe Biden, whose approval rates among the public have plummeted to record low levels, a Republican candidate won Virginia’s governor’s race.

Republican outsider candidate Glenn Youngkin defeated Democrat incumbent Terry McAuliffe on Tuesday evening, marking the first time a Republican has won the state’s governorship since 2009.

Biden had won the state by double digit numbers over former president Donald Trump in the 2020 presidential election just one year ago, so the Republican victory may signal major trouble for the Democratic party.

Youngkin, who has never previously held political office, focused his campaign on education and parental rights, highlighting issues such as critical race theory being taught in the classroom and vaccine mandates for teachers.

“We’re going to embrace our parents, not ignore them,” Youngkin said in a victory speech overnight Tuesday.

“We’re going to press forward with a curriculum that includes listening to parents, as well as a curriculum that allows our children to run as fast as they can, teaching them how to think, enabling their dreams to soar. Friends, we are going to reestablish excellence in our schools.”

A CNN exit poll found that 57 percent of Virginians who voted in Tuesday’s election said they disapprove of Biden’s performance as president.

A majority said they believe that the Democratic party is too liberal.

McAuliffe, the Democratic incumbent, attempted to paint his candidate as a “deplorable,” derogatorily referring to him as “Glenn Trumpkin” and calling him a “Trump wannabe.”

The strategy failed to stir up votes from Democratic voters disappointed by Biden’s bungled Afghanistan withdrawal, sky-high unemployment rates, and chaotic supply chain disruptions throughout the U.S.

As Democratic lawmakers pat themselves on the back over niche issues like issuing the first U.S. passport without a male or female sex designation, critical infrastructure funding bills aren’t bein g passed and middle-class Democratic voters are majorly turned off, McAuliffe said.

“Do your job and quit the posturing,” McAuliffe pleaded with his party colleagues in D.C. during an interview with CNN.

“We need help out here in the states and people elected you to do your job.”