Democratic Virginia Senate and House Majorities
Kentucky-Mississippi Governors 1:1
Biden is inferior to Trump within the margin of error
Analysis of “Young Kin’s defeat strengthens Trump’s status”
“Democracy won across the country, and MAGA (former President Donald Trump’s slogan ‘Make America Great Again’) lost.”
U.S. President Joe Biden announced this on social media A year before the U.S. presidential election, President Biden, who was in a state of emergency as he was inferior to former Republican President Trump in recent opinion polls, appeared to appeal, saying, “The real vote was different.”
Today’s election attracted attention as a midterm election that shows the current voting sentiment of American voters heading into next year’s presidential election. The Democratic Party accepted the best result and laughed. At the same time, there is an assessment that “the problem was Biden” regarding the low approval rating of former President Trump, who is likely to face a rematch.
According to the Associated Press, in the Virginia state legislative election, which elects 40 seats in the Senate and 100 seats in the House of Representatives, the Democratic Party won 21 seats in the Senate and 51 seats in the House of Representatives, based on a 95% vote count, and won a majority of seats in both houses. The Republican Party only had 17 seats in the Senate and 47 seats in the House of Representatives.
Virginia, traditionally dominated by the Republican Party, has chosen Democratic candidates in all four presidential elections since 2008. President Biden defeated former President Trump by 10.1 percentage points in the 2020 presidential election. However, in the 2021 midterm elections, the Republican governor was elected and the Senate and House of Representatives were divided into two parties, making it a ‘purple state’. This means that neither the Democratic Party (blue states) nor the Republican Party (red states) has an advantage.
As such, the competition between the two parties was fierce ahead of this state legislative election. President Biden has been working hard on the election, including publicly declaring support for Democratic candidates in the Virginia state legislative election. The Republican Party also prepared for the election by investing tens of millions of dollars, led by Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin.
In the 2020 presidential election, incumbent Democratic governor Andy Bershear was re-elected in the Kentucky gubernatorial election, a ‘Republican stronghold’ that overwhelmingly supported former President Trump. In the Pennsylvania Supreme Court election, another competitive state, the Democratic candidate was elected. Of the day’s major elections, the Republican Party won only the Mississippi gubernatorial election.
The Democratic Party breathed a sigh of relief in a situation where President Biden was consistently falling behind former President Trump in various recent opinion polls, leading to even calls for a replacement candidate. The Washington Post (WP) evaluated it as “a good result for the Democratic Party (when it really needed victory).”
However, some analyzes say that President Biden cannot be satisfied. A survey released today by CNN and public opinion polling agency SSRS showed that President Biden’s approval rating was 45%, falling behind former President Trump (49%) within the margin of error (±3.1 percentage points). David Challen, CNN political director, pointed out, “This election showed that the problem is not the Democratic Party brand, but Biden.”
There is an analysis that former President Trump strengthened his position within the party as his potential rivals took a hit in this election. Republican Governor Youngkin led the election by keeping his distance from Trump’s hard-core supporters during this state legislative election campaign. He planned to emerge as a Republican presidential candidate capable of replacing former President Trump by winning state legislative elections based on his high favorability among moderates, but he lost his power due to defeat.
WP said, “It is questionable how many Republicans came out to the polls in an election in which Trump did not run directly,” and “Democrats will still not stop fearing (that President Biden could be defeated by former President Trump) in the 2024 presidential election.” “It was reported.
Source: Donga
Mark Jones is a world traveler and journalist for News Rebeat. With a curious mind and a love of adventure, Mark brings a unique perspective to the latest global events and provides in-depth and thought-provoking coverage of the world at large.