Bitter pill for US President Joe Biden (78): According to forecasts, the Republican candidate Glenn Youngkin (54) won the gubernatorial election in the US state of Virginia. He narrowly beat the Democrat Terry McAuliffe (64), who was supported by Biden, as revealed on Wednesday night from consistent predictions from various broadcasters.
The election was considered an important mood test a year before the congressional elections – the whole country looked at the state on the east coast. The gubernatorial election in the US state of New Jersey also saw a narrow defeat for Biden’s Democrats – but a final result was not yet certain.
Youngkin was supported in the election campaign by ex-President Donald Trump (75) – even if he publicly distanced himself from him and focused on moderate voters.
The Republican was catching up
Even before the election, a head-to-head race had emerged, but in the summer the Democrat McAuliffe was still ahead. For the Republicans in Virginia, it was also a question of whether they can score points with moderate swing voters in rural areas.
In the presidential election a year ago, Biden easily won in Virginia and New Jersey. The close result of the gubernatorial elections a year before the mid-term elections is a debacle for the Democrats.
Trump licks blood
In the vote next year, your wafer-thin majority in Congress is at stake. Trump’s Republicans then want to regain control in the Senate and the House of Representatives. According to observers, the vote, especially in Virginia, is a testament to Biden’s policies, who have been ruling the White House for almost a year. His approval ratings are worse than ever since he took office.
He has long tried unsuccessfully to get two investment packages through Congress. Biden has so far failed because of wing battles in his own democratic party.
Biden at low altitude
The past few months have been marked by numerous setbacks for Biden. In addition to the internal party dispute over Biden’s investment packages, the chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan also did not make the president look good. The corona pandemic continued to trouble the country, and vaccination against the virus is making slow progress. Biden relies on compulsory vaccination in many areas – a topic that polarizes in the USA. The economic upturn is also sluggish – there are also delivery bottlenecks as a result of the pandemic.
At the beginning of his tenure, Biden’s satisfaction rating was 52 percent, but has now dropped to 41 percent. 52 percent are dissatisfied. (SDA / gf)