There are two gubernatorial elections that are going to be taking place this year. One is the gubernatorial election in the state of New Jersey. Incumbent Phil Murphy won the Democratic nomination with ease and the Republican candidate, Jack Ciattarelli doesn’t even look like he has a chance.

The poll numbers in New Jersey show that Phil Murphy has 48% of the vote and that poll comes from Fairleigh Dickinson University from the dates of June 9-16, 2021. Jack Ciattarelli has 33% in the polls while 14% of the state is undecided and 5% are voting for other third party candidates. That race isn’t going to be competitive at all.

The race in Virginia however will be a lot closer. The Republican nominee was the perfect choice. His name is Glenn Youngkin. As we know from the past, Former President Donald Trump hasn’t performed well in the state losing it twice. Youngkin obviously knew that, so in his campaign he has strayed away from Trump. He has no planned campaign stops with him and it looks like it will stay that way.

Donald Trump did endorse Youngkin. It doesn’t look like he is using that to propel himself to a win though. He is being a Republican candidate that would be enticing to the Virginia populace that has voted blue since 2008.

Terry McAuliffe, who is the Democrat nominee for Governor is also a good candidate. He was the Governor of Virginia from 2014-2018. He won in the Gubernatorial Election in 2013 by 2.6 points. He was also liked by the citizens of Virginia with his approval rating at one point being 58%.

These are two good candidates that Republicans and Democrats picked. As of right now, the polls say that McAuliffe will win the election by four points. McAuliffe has 46% and Youngkin has 42%. Yet, there is still 12% undecided. That 12% is the difference between the first Republican governor in Virginia since Bob McDonnell in 2014, or Terry McAuliffe being the governor for a second time.

Personally, I would love to see a Republican flip in the state of Virginia. It would be cool to see someone who has no prior political experience in Glenn Youngkin get elected. It would also be cool to see the first new wave of Republicans that aren’t fully Trumpers.

What do you guys think about the election in the state of Virginia? Let me know!

By: Ellis Savage