In an upset victory, Republican Glenn Youngkin has won the Virginia governor’s race. This was one of the many surprises during election night in America. 

The Virginia governor’s race was tight, with both sides going into it confident and having momentum. Like in the highly contested California governor race, Democrat Terry McAuliffe received support from political ringleaders like Barack Obama, Joe Biden, and Kamala Harris whereas the Republican challenger Youngkin kept outside influencers like Donald Trump at bay. 

Youngkin was able to take the lead in the polling due to focusing primarily on education, advocating against critical race theory and the sentiment posed by McAuliffe that parents have no role in what their kids learn in school.

 This was only one of many races going on during the 2021 election night in America, with Republicans putting up unexpectedly good fights in the polls countrywide.

In Minneapolis, voters were not in support of replacing the city’s police department, 17 months after anti-police protests. In the measure, the city’s police department would have been replaced with a “Department of Public Safety.” 

Similarly, in New York, former police chief and Democrat nominee Eric Adams had beaten his anti-police associates in the primaries, and went on to become the mayor of New York City, defeating Republican Curtis Sliwa in the process.

In Buffalo, New Jersey, Democrat Byron Brown, the incumbent mayor of Buffalo, running as a write-in candidate, beat back Democratic party nominee socialist India Walton. India Walton was endorsed by big names within the Democratic party, including Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Chuck Schumer, but failed to overcome the massive amounts of write-in ballots for the incumbent mayor seeking his fifth term.

Possibly the biggest shock of this year’s election night was the New Jersey governor’s race. Despite Democratic Phil Murphy being favored, the vote totals were neck and neck, to the point where neither side claimed victory on election night. Votes were still being counted into the evening of the day after election night. After a very close race, the Associated Press called the race for the Democratic incumbent Phil Murphy. 

What should have been very easy races for the Democrats to win turned into major and unexpected struggles. Not only did voters reject extreme anti-police reforms, but they also came out and almost turned two blue leaning states red for the first time in years, succeeding with Virginia. This is an indication of how the 2022 midterm elections are going to go if nothing changes from now to then.