Dear Commons Communty,
It was a good election for Democrats yesterday as they were able to win several important statewide races. Here is a quick recap.
Lt. Gov. Ralph S. Northam, a physician and Army veteran, won a commanding victory for governor, overcoming a racially charged campaign by his Republican opponent and cementing Virginia’s transformation into a reliably Democratic state largely immune to Trump-style appeals. Mr. Northam was propelled to victory over Ed Gillespie, the Republican nominee, by liberal and moderate voters who were eager to send a message to Mr. Trump in a state that rejected him in 2016. Mr. Northam led Mr. Gillespie by nearly nine percentage points with 99 percent of precincts reporting, the widest victory in decades for a Democratic candidate for governor of Virginia.
In New Jersey, Philip D. Murphy, a former Goldman Sachs executive, won the governorship, according to The Associated Press, by a vast margin that brought an unceremonious end to Gov. Chris Christie’s tumultuous tenure. The Democratic ticket established a decisive advantage early in the campaign season, and that lead never flagged. Mr. Murphy, a wealthy Democratic donor who served as ambassador to Germany under Mr. Obama, ran on a message of rejecting both Mr. Trump and Mr. Christie, who is a politically toxic figure in the state. National Republicans virtually ignored the race, viewing their nominee, Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno, as doomed by a deeply hostile political environment and her association with Mr. Christie.
Voters in Maine approved a ballot measure on Tuesday to allow many more low-income residents to qualify for Medicaid coverage under the Affordable Care Act, The Associated Press said. The vote was a rebuke of Gov. Paul LePage, a Republican who has repeatedly vetoed legislation to expand Medicaid.
In Washington State, early ballot returns show Democrat Manka Dhingra with a sizable lead over her Republican opponent Jinyoung Lee Englund in a State Senate race that will decide the balance of power in the Legislature. Last night, Dhingra had roughly 55.4 percent of the vote to Englund’s 44.5 percent. That margin puts Dhingra on track to win the election in Seattle’s Eastside suburbs, despite thousands of votes that still need to be counted over the next few days due to Washington’s mail-in system. Democrats hailed the lead as a sure sign Democrats would control both chambers of Washington’s Legislature for the first time since 2012.
In a local election in Northern Virginia, Democrat Danica Roem, 33, defeated a Republican who had served in the state’s House of Delegates for a quarter of a century — and, in doing so, Ms. Roem became the first transgender person to be elected to the Virginia legislature.
And last but not least, Bill de Blasio was re-elected on Tuesday as the mayor of New York City, overwhelming his Republican challenger, Nicole Malliotakis, and a handful of independent candidates in what he declared a persuasive affirmation of his progressive agenda.
Congratulations to the winners!
Tony
