Virginia governors race is first ‘test of Biden’s presidency’ | Politics News

A Republican challenger in the race for Virginia governor is giving Democrats a scare in the state’s November 2 election that is seen as a referendum on President Joe Biden and his first year in the White House.

Virginia is a state that President Biden won easily in 2020, but former hedge fund manager, Republican Glenn Youngkin is running neck-and-neck with Biden’s favoured candidate, Democrat Terry McAuliffe.

For months, polls had shown McAuliffe with a steady, if narrow lead over Youngkin. But the race has tightened dramatically in the closing days on the strength of Republican enthusiasm. One recent poll puts Youngkin ahead, signalling momentum may be on his side.

“The race is a statistical dead-heat and that was not expected,” said Mark Rozelle, dean of the Schar School of Public Policy and Government at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia.

“Youngkin has been a stronger candidate than many had predicted,” Rozelle told Al Jazeera.

Failure to hold the Virginia governor’s mansion and state house would be a major defeat for Biden and national Democrats who have campaigned heavily for McAuliffe and worked hard to tie Youngkin to former President Donald Trump, who is unpopular in Virginia.

Indeed, the prospect Youngkin might win is a measure of how badly the United States political environment has soured for Biden and the Democrats. Biden’s job approval rating has plummeted since the chaotic US withdrawal from Afghanistan raised doubts about his ability to govern amid Democratic infighting in the US Congress.

“What’s happened here is Terry McAuliffe has nationalised the race. He has brought Biden in,” said Tom Davis, a former Republican member of the House of Representatives from Virginia and former chair of House Republican’s campaign arm.

“This is the first political test of Biden’s presidency,” Davis told Al Jazeera.

President Joe Biden rallied voters for Democratic gubernatorial candidate, former Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe in Arlington, Virginia, on October 26 [Alex Brandon/AP Photo]

Once a solid Republican state, Virginia has turned Democratic during the last decade as Democrats made gains in Northern Virginia’s burgeoning suburbs outside Washington, DC, and around the state capital of Richmond.

Hillary Clinton beat Trump by five percentage points in Virginia in 2016, though she lost the national election. Biden won Virginia by 10 points over Trump in 2020. Democrats have won four of the last five contests for governor, including McAuliffe’s 2013 election.

As governor, McAuliffe had a fair record of advancing Democractic priorities on healthcare, immigration, voting rights, and economic development. He worked across the aisle with Republicans who then controlled the state legislature. But he did not put that front-and-centre in his campaign.

Virginia’s constitution limits governors to one term but allows them to run again in four years. McAuliffe was succeeded by Democrat Ralph Northam.

Donald Trump’s role

From the beginning, McAuliffe sought to tie Youngkin to Trump in television advertisements. Trump endorsed Youngkin early on in the Republican primary contest and Youngkin…