Virginia governor race a straw in the wind for US midterms

The battle between Democrat Terry McAuliffe and Republican Glenn Youngkin to be the next governor of the eastern state is being seen as an early referendum on the ten-month-old presidency of Joe Biden

Terry McAuliffe ticks all the boxes to be Virginia’s next overnor, but the veteran Democrat is far from a shoo-in to win the election. Picture: Getty

In some respects, the race to become the next governor of the state of Virginia, which will be decided on November 2, looks like the 2016 presidential race all over again. It’s a battle between the Democrat who ticks all the boxes – on paper at least – and the cash-rich parvenu who could probably buy a sizeable chunk of the state outright.

One thing that Democrats and Republicans agree on is that the Virginia ...