Democrats Win Governors Elections In Virginia, New Jersey In Blow To Trump's Party

Fakhir Rizvi Published November 08, 2017 | 07:20 PM

In a high-profile contest for the governor in the key US state of Virginia, Democrats scored a major win against the candidate from the ruling Republican party in an election that was largely seen as a test of President Trump's impact on state-level politics

WASHINGTON,(APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 08th Nov, 2017 ) :In a high-profile contest for the governor in the key US state of Virginia, Democrats scored a major win against the candidate from the ruling Republican party in an election that was largely seen as a test of President Trump's impact on state-level politics.

In a separate election in the nearby state of New Jersey, Democrats ended the eight-year term of Republican governor Chris Christie. The Democrats also scored a major win in the election for mayor in the New York City.

But, it was the election in Virginia that captured the interest of the entire nation and is believed to give a major push to the Democrats in the midterm election for Congress in 2018. While the official results were expected late night, Democrat Ralph Northam was projected to defeat Republican Gillespie, termed by the media as a big win against the party of President Trump.

Soon after the race was called in Virginia by CNN, President Trump on a visit to Asia distanced himself from his party candidate, tweeting that Ed Gillespie worked hard but did not embrace me or what I stand for.

Gillespie though supported several Trump policies, kept himself away from the President who is not popular in Virginia and had lost the state to Hillary Clinton during the presidential election which he eventually won.

The result signal a big win for Democrats in Virginia, a Washington Post report said. Democrats also won elections for the seats of Lt. Governor and the state Attorney General, in addition to several other state-level positions.

In New Jersey, apart from winning the governor election, the Democrat Party was also poised to strengthen its 12-year control of both houses of the state legislature, giving them the control of the entire state.