Virginia polls CLOSE in nail-biting race governor race

All eyes are on Virginia as polls close in the state's cutthroat gubernatorial election, where polling showed Republican Glenn Youngkin and Democrat Terry McAuliffe neck and neck to lead the Old Dominion. 

Though it's still too early to call, with 29% of the votes counted, Youngkin had a 6.2% lead over McAuliffe, 52.8-46.6%, or around 54,000 votes.  

An early exit poll by NBC showed that 56% of voters disapprove of President Biden, who has campaigned for McAuliffe, and 43% approve. The NBC poll also showed that voters are most concerned with the economy, 33% ranking it as their top issue, and education, 24%.

If the margin of the final count is within 1%, a candidate can request a recount. If the margin is 0.5% or less, the state will pay for it. 

McAuliffe, 64, previously served as Virginia's governor from 2014 to 2018. Due to the commonwealth's unusual election laws, governors can only serve one consecutive term. He would become the first governor of Virginia in nearly half a century to be elected to two non-consecutive terms. 

During his term as governor, he issued a record 120 vetoes, mostly concerning social issues like abortion and LGBTQ rights, and touted his record fighting against the GOP legislature on the campaign trail. 

McAuliffe nationalized the race by invoking former President Trump's name perhaps more than any other figure running for office. 

Youngkin, 54, is a political newcomer and wealthy businessman who previously served as CEO of the Carlyle Group, a private equity firm. Though he won Trump's endorsement, Youngkin has distanced himself from the former president, who faired poorly in Virginia in 2020.  

Trump held an 11th-hour tele-rally for the Virginia race, but Youngkin said he did not participate. 

Youngkin's personal wealth launched him into the spotlight, as he provided $5.5 million to his own campaign. The Republican has sought to mobilize voters by tying the race to school choice and education issues, holding Parents Matter rallies where he hit out against teachings like critical race theory. 

And in what could spell trouble for McAuliffe, over 80% of voters in an NBC exit poll said parents should have a say in what their children are taught in schools.  Fifty-three percent said parents should have 'a lot' of say, 31% said 'some.' 

McAuliffe said during a debate in late September, 'I don't think parents should be telling schools what they should teach.' 

Voters began lining up at polling places across Virginia on a rainy Tuesday morning to cast their ballot for governor in a heated contest coming down to a nine tenths-of-a-point. 

In one county, turnout was so high that elections officials had to print off ballots and dole them out as voters waited at the polls.

Albemarle election officials said a majority of the county's 30 precincts needed excess emergency ballots from the voter registration office, which began printing them off at lightning speed.

'We just got a turnout far in excess of what we expected,' registrar Jake Washburne said, according to the Daily Progress. He said the printer-paper ballots would have to be counted by hand. 

McAuliffe is reportedly watching the election results at home with his family.  'When the results of this election come in — win or lose — we can rest assured that we did everything we can to create the future that we want,' he said in a note to supporters. 

Joe Biden signaled on Tuesday that he believes Democratic candidate Terry McAuliffe will be the next governor of Virginia in his nail-biting election with Republican Glenn Youngkin and insisted mounting problems and his poor performance in the polls will have nothing to do with the result.

'We're gonna win,' Biden said in a hushed tone while grinning and leaning into the microphone on stage at the United Nations Climate Change conference in Glasgow, Scotland, while polls showed the race at a dead heat before state voting booths closed at 7pm.

'I think we're gonna win in Virginia,' he continued. 'The race, it's very close. It's about who shows up, who turns out.'

The president was responding to a question on if he feels McAuliffe losing in the state Biden won by 10 points in 2020 would be a rebuke on his presidency and spell disaster for Democrats going into the 2022 midterms.

'Granted I did win by a large margin [in Virginia], but the point of the matter is I think that this is going to be – what we all knew from the beginning – it's going to be a tight race. And it is tight.'

Biden then insisted that his successes or failures as president cannot be attributed to the outcome of local and congressional elections, even though they are being seen as an indicator of how his administration is performing.

Although there is a gubernatorial race in New Jersey, two congressional races in Ohio and several mayoral contests, the nation has turned its attention to Virginia as a loss for Democrat Terry McAuliffe would be catastrophic for the Party as Joe Biden's approval dwindles ahead of the 2022 midterms.

A Republican win would cause a panic among the Democrats and could sway voters across the country in what is a bellwether election for an administration mired by mounting problems, including inflation and supply chain issues. 

'I've not seen any evidence that whether or not I am doing well or poorly, whether or not I've got my agenda passed or not is going to have any real impact on winning or losing,' Biden said.

The career politician added that even if his Build Back Better agenda were passed in time for elections, that it wouldn't be able to be attributed to Democrats winning at a higher rate.

Biden added: 'The off-year is always unpredictable especially when we don't have a general election going at the same time.'  

'Go vote, Virginia and New Jersey!' President Biden tweeted on Tuesday morning.

Biden said while overseas in Scotland for COP26 conference that he thinks the more people who turn out to vote in Virginia, the better chances are for Democrats to win and for McAuliffe to be the next governor.

Youngkin's camp thinks that the GOP candidate can come out victorious in Virginia if he improves in some areas of the state where former President Donald Trump suffered to garner voters in the 2020 election.

Specifically, Youngkin wants to top Trump's numbers by 5 per cent in Loudoun County, Fairfax County, Virginia Beach and Richmond.

If he does that, he is predicting he will have the votes state-wide needed to win the governorship.

All three counties are largely urban or suburban and were dominated by Biden - except for Virginia Beach where Biden only beat Trump by 5.4 per cent. Youngkin has tried to earn voters in these increasingly bye areas distancing himself from Trump's political style, which puts them off.

Virginia has become a battleground area where Republicans feel they can gain more political control after Biden won the state by 10.1 percentage points in the 2020 presidential election.

In Monday's polling average from FiveThirtyEight, McAuliffe and Youngkin remain just under 1 percentage point apart, with the GOP candidate pulling ahead in the days leading up to the election.

While 47.9 per cent of voters say they will cast their ballot for Youngkin, another 47 per cent say they will vote for McAuliffe. Back in August there was a near 7 per cent split in favor of McAuliffe. 

One of the areas most vital to the election is Loudoun County, which Biden won by 25 percentage points in 2020. The wealthy area, while veering more blue recently, could easily turn red as Republican candidate Glenn Youngkin promises to give parents more control over their childrens' education.

Loudoun is the richest county in the U.S., with an average household income of $142,299.

'It's no longer Republicans against Democrats,' Youngkin told Fox News on Tuesday morning. 'It's parents from all political perspectives, from all walks of life coming together and standing up for their children.'   

'Virginia and New Jersey Democrats—it's Election Day! You must turn out and vote for @TerryMcAuliffe, @PhilMurphyNJ, and Democrats down the ballot,' Vice President Kamala Harrris tweeted on Tuesday.

Youngkin's rally crowds the day before the election significantly out-showed those who came out for Democrat Terry McAuliffe, who is a former governor of the Old Dominion State.

McAuliffe tried desperately to tie Youngkin's campaign to rump in an effort to make the candidate seem more far-right and deter independent voters from turning out for him.

'Guess how Glenn Youngkin is finishing his campaign?' McAuliffe said at his final Monday night campaign rally outside a brewery in Fairfax. 'He is doing an event with Donald Trump here in Virginia.'

But Youngkin did not

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