Republican Wins Closely Watched Gubernatorial Race

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RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Republican former business executive Glenn Youngkin has won Virginia’s governor’s race, a major political turnabout in a state that had been trending increasingly blue.

The win has alarmed national Democrats already nervous about holding their party’s narrow control of Congress in next year's midterm elections. The party was also looking at potentially more bad news early Wednesday in New Jersey where incumbent Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy was in a tight reelection race.

In Virginia, the 54-year-old Youngkin, a political newcomer, beat Democrat Terry McAuliffe, who served as governor from 2014 to 2018. President Joe Biden won Virginia by a comfortable 10 percentage points last year, and New Jersey by 15.