Democrats brace for by-election losses amid infighting

WASHINGTON: The ruling Democratic Party in America is bracing for a setback in a Virginia gubernatorial election that is seen as a referendum on the Biden presidency and a forerunner to the midterm Congressional election in 2022 when the entire 435-member US House of Representatives and a third of the 100-member Senate will go to the polls.
Democrats have deployed heavyweights including President Biden, former President Barack Obama, and vice-president Kamala Harris to retain a state they won by ten points in the last Presidential election, but latest polls on the eve of voting show Republican challenger Glenn Youngkin ahead by a whisker (47.9 to 47) in a statistical dead-heat against Democrat Terry McAuliffe. This despite -- or perhaps because of -- Youngkin keeping a distance from former President Donald Trump, who has sought to impose himself on the election.
McAuliffe, who served as Virginia governor from 2014 to 2018, is having to bear the brunt of the backlash against the perceived woke-ism of Democrats, infighting in the party, and President Biden's low ratings. The populated areas of Virginia (including significant Indian-American population) adjoin Washington DC, constituting some of its suburbs, and typically lean Democrat, but turnout is generally low in local elections.
Also going to the polls is New Jersey, where incumbent Phil Murphy is seeking to turn back a challenge from Republican Jack Ciattarelli and become the first Democratic governor reelected in more than 40 years.
A defeat in either will be a blow to the Democratic Party which has wafer thin majority in both the Senate and the House, which many pundits expect will evaporate in the 2022 mid-term polls. Several other state offices too are in play and the results are expected to indicate which way the political wind is blowing.