What Went Down During The 2021 Elections

Yes, Trump has shown remarkable restraint — for him personally, at least — in staying out of Virginia governor’s race. However, it looks like his patience is waning. He teased a visit to Virginia to help Youngkin, leaving the gubernatorial campaign in the awkward position of protecting the former president’s feelings while trying to avoid giving his opponent, McAuliffe, the best electoral gift Democrats could dream of. An in-person visit from Trump would provide Democrats an enthusiasm boost more powerful than anything McAuliffe could have achieved on his own. Instead, Trump held a tele-rally, continuing the Republican Party’s efforts to target Trump supporters through smaller rallies and press statements that don’t usually make top headlines — in other words, Republicans have been able to rally their base without fueling Democratic outrage. I don’t know whether Trump will be able to keep that up through the midterms, though.

To your point, Sarah, Youngkin has done a relatively good job of keeping Trump out of the state and really appealing to issues that are important to GOP voters — like critical race theory and cutting taxes.

Micah, I do buy that COVID-19 can bring Trump and his pandemic policies front-and-center. In California’s recall election, Gov. Gavin Newsom focused heavily on COVID-19 policies like vaccine and mask mandates, and it appeared to work well for him. At the end of his presidency, Trump’s national approval rating on handling the pandemic was at just 39 percent, with 57 percent disapproving, per the polling average. In Virginia, McAuliffe has tried to hammer home the point about Youngkin opposing vaccine mandates, but other policy issues like education have definitely taken up a lot of space.