Governor races in New Jersey and Virginia prove tighter than expected as Democrats Mikie Sherrill and Abigail Spanberger face unexpected challenges.
The Democrats running for governor in New Jersey and Virginia should win easily.
And yet the races are tighter than the prognosticators had expected. Here’s why.
Mikie Sherrill, a former Navy officer and ex-prosecutor as well as a sitting congresswoman, should clobber Jack Ciattarelli, a onetime assemblyman who has already run twice and lost.
Since I began my career at a New Jersey newspaper, I can tell you that the Garden State has never been as solidly blue as it is now.
One problem that Sherrill faces is that outgoing governor Phil Murphy is extremely unpopular, and voters tend not to reward the party in power when they’re ticked off.
And then there’s the Trump factor, which hangs over Tuesday’s races like a storm cloud.
While Ciattarelli called Trump a « charlatan » in 2015, they’ve since made up and the president has endorsed him. In 2012, he voted against a bill legalizing same-sex marriage but has since flipped his position.
Sherrill is doing everything she can to make the election about Trump. She pounds away at the president, knowing full well that Ciattarelli can’t separate himself from the Trump agenda on any issue without potentially triggering his anger.
What’s more, Trump canceled a $16 billion tunnel between New Jersey and New York. That is poison among North Jersey commuters.
Throw in a month-long government shutdown, and the weekend’s suspension of SNAP food benefits, and you’ve got a perfect storm for Sherrill.
But with Ciattarelli campaigning in minority communities, it’s just not going to be a cakewalk.
In Virginia, Rep. Abigail Spanberger, a former CIA officer, would ordinarily be rolling to victory against Lt.
