Monday is the final day of campaigning before Nov.2’s vote for Virginia’s governor.
This governor’s race has become a referendum on President Joe Biden and Donald Trump. It has become a reliable litmus test for how Americans are feeling about the state of the country.
Democrat Terry McAuliffe, a former Virginia governor, is neck and neck with Republican Glenn Youngkin – a political newcomer and businessman.
The candidates crisscrossed the commonwealth last night in a final sprint towards Tuesday’s election day.
Voters in the state are largely concerned about education and the economy.
“I’ve got big bold plans. I’m leading on education. That’s the reason why I’m running,” said McAuliffe.
Youngkin has vowed to increase education funding, raise teachers’ salaries and do away with critical race theory.
“We will teach all history but what we will not do, we will not teach our children to view everything through a lens of race and divide them into baskets and then make them compete against one another and steal dreams,” said Youngkin.
Recent polls show McAuliffe leading Youngkin 49 to 48. But a Fox News poll shows Younkin up by 8.
Virginia voter Dean Bradley sees a lack of enthusiasm among fellow Democrats.
“I think a lot of people are just kind of frazzled and burnt out with everything that’s going on,” he said.
Larry Sabato, of the University of Virginia Center for Politics, agrees.
“Democrats are disillusioned and therefore less enthusiastic about voting. That is really entirely the reason why this is tied. Republican enthusiasm is through the roof, Democratic enthusiasm is much lower than that,” said Sabato.
The race is a toss-up. A recent poll found that 49 percent of likely voters favor McAuliffe and 48 percent favor Youngkin.
The Republican is endorsed by former President Trump. But Youngkin is keeping Trump and his allies at arms-length, instead opting to go solo on the trail and focus on the critical DC suburbs of northern Virginia.
Meanwhile, McAuliffe, struggling to excite voters, is relying on Democratic heavy hitters including President Biden – who won the state by 10 points in 2020 – and Vice President Kamala Harris.
Virginia and New Jersey are the only two states to hold their race for governor in the year after the presidential election.
New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy is leading in his bid for re-election over Republican challenger Jack Ciattarelli.
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