Election results: Murphy hangs on in New Jersey as Democratic blame game over Virginia begins

Eric Adams – a former New York City Police Department captain, state legislator and Brooklyn borough president – has been elected the city’s second-ever Black mayor.

The 110th mayor of New York inherits city leadership in the middle of a coronavirus pandemic that has upended life for millions of residents – including the city’s schools and its thousands of students – and he will steward the nation’s most expensive police force amid international demands for reform when he enters office on 1 January.

The Independent’s Alex Woodward reports:

GOP candidate for New York mayor Curtis Sliwa has conceded in his election night speech.

“I am pledging my support to the new mayor Eric Adams because we’re all going to have to coalesce together in harmony and solidarity if we’re going to save this city that we love,” he said.

Alvin Bragg has won the race for New York district attorney, according to projections from The Associated Press. He will be the first Black man to hold the job.

He will enter office on 1 January in a role currently held by Cyrus Vance Jr, who is retiring after a final term in which he prosecuted Harvey Weinstein for rape and brought tax evasion charges against the Trump Organization and its longtime chief Allen Weisselberg.

Mr Bragg, a civil rights attorney and former federal prosecutor, previously helped oversee a lawsuit that led to the closure of Mr Trump’s foundation over allegations that he used the nonprofit to further his political and business interests.

Michelle Wu will be Boston’s next mayor, according to projections from The Associated Press.

She will be the city’s first-ever woman and the first-ever Asian American to lead the city.

The Virginia governor’s race concluded on Tuesday with Republican Glenn Youngkin on track to win a resounding victory that sent a chill through Democrats in Washington.

Before the results were even called by the major networks, Democrats and Republicans on Capitol Hill were already gaming out what the results would mean for 2022.

Terry McAuliffe, the state’s former governor, was down by roughly 115,000 votes as of 10.15 p.m. local time around when he took the stage at a watch party in Tyson’s Corner attended by hundreds in the meeting area of the McClean Hilton.

“We’re going to continue to count the votes,” he told cheering supporters, noting that roughly 18 per cent of the vote remained uncounted.

The Independent’s John Bowden reports from Virginia:

Terry McAuliffe and his team will have plenty of time to ponder what they did wrong in Virginia, how they allowed Republican Glenn Youngkin to exploit an issue and lie about it, playing the coded race card in the same way as Richard Nixon used to to across the southern states, and getting away with it.

They will have time to consider whether McAuliffe, a never-thrilling 64-year-old white man, who previously served as governor, was the best candidate, and whether a woman, particularly a Black woman, would have generated greater enthusiasm among voters.

Democrats might have done badly regardless of who the candidate was; elections in “off” years do not always point to the future.

What appears beyond doubt, however, is that if Democrats had a better story to tell to voters, a story of bills passed on Capitol Bill, and signed into law by Joe Biden, they would have fared better.

Instead, as Virginia Republicans prepared to party in Richmond, and Donald Trump, typically, sought to claim credit, Democrats were left picking through the wreckage of how McAuliffe had allowed Youngkin to seize on the issue of critical race theory, and claim, falsely in most cases, that it was being taught in elementary schools and that parents had no say in the matter.

The Independent’s Andrew Buncombe has more:

The man who would be Seattle’s first Asian-American mayor has claimed this is “history in the making” as he surged to a 30 per cent lead over his rival.

Bruce Harrell, 64, a former president of the city council and whose mother, originally from Japan, was interned during World World Two, appeared before supporters, as early results placed him more than 30 points head of Lorena González.

“Standing with my family by my side…I just want to say we’re going to bring Seattle back,” he said.

The Independent’s Andrew Buncombe has more:

Democratic candidate Terry McAuliffe has been defeated by Republican Glenn Youngkin in the race for Virginia’s next governor, according to a race call from The Associated Press.

Democrat Ed Gainey defeated his Republican opponent Tony Moreno to become the first Black mayor of Pittsburgh on Tuesday.

Gainey was a five-term member of the Pennsylvania state House before his win against Moreno. He led the polls by 71 per cent to 29 per cent for Moreno.

Gainey took to the stage on Tuesday night to declare victory, saying: “Thank you, Pittsburgh,” as he was cheered by family and his supporters surrounding him.

Republican Glenn Youngkin, who mobilised voters with concerns over race and education to clinch victory, promised “choice within the public school system” to people in his victory speech.

He said schools will have a curriculum that teaches children “how to think.”

The newly elected Virginia governor said he would start “transformation on day one.” “There’s no time to waste. Our kids can’t wait. We work in real people time, not government time.”

“We’re going to restore excellence in our schools,” he said. “We will invest the largest education budget in the history of the commonwealth... We’re going to introduce choice within our public school system.”