Leave Trump behind. Maybe Republicans didn’t need to change voting laws, as they have been doing in key states, attempting to drive down Democratic turnout. Maybe they just needed to drop Donald Trump, as Republican Glenn Youngkin did on his way to winning the governor’s race in Virginia, defeating Democrat Terry McAuliffe.
It wasn’t a bomb-throwing wannabe strongman who won over voters in the blue state. It was a smiling rich guy in a zippered vest who toned down but did not abandon racial issues that appealed to Trump supporters and seized on notions of so-called “parental choice” that appealed to suburbanites. His other big issue was ending a tax on groceries. These are literally kitchen table issues.
The moderate Republican running for governor in New Jersey, Jack Ciattarelli, achieved a more stunning swing against the progressive Democrat Phil Murphy, who only narrowly leads as votes trickle in. Ciattarelli rejected Trump’s election conspiracy theories and encouraged Republicans to vote.
Compare those results with the California recall election in September, when Republicans rallied around a fire-breathing candidate, Larry Elder, a talk radio host. They lost hard, handing a victory to Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom.
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