memeorandum: Shocker in New Jersey: Governor's race a nail-biter (Matt Friedman/Politico)

11:10 AM ET, November 3, 2021

Top Items:

Zachary D. Carter / The Atlantic:

The Democratic Unraveling Began With Schools — Republican Glenn Youngkin's victory in Tuesday's Virginia gubernatorial election was about schools. It wasn't about Donald Trump, or inflation, or defunding the police, or Medicare for All, or President Joe Biden's infrastructure agenda.

Discussion: The Hill, Washington Post, Townhall, The Federalist, Bloomberg and CNN

Tim Miller / The Bulwark:

Virginia Results: Giving Up on Rural America Is Proving a Nightmare for Democrats — Margins matter. — About a year ago I wrote about the big “trade” that had taken place in our politics. Democrats were picking up former Republican “red dogs” who live in the suburbs.

Discussion: Lawyers, Guns & Money, Fox News, The Hill, Outside the Beltway, Washington Examiner, Townhall and Media Matters for America

Nicholas Riccardi / Associated Press:

Takeaways from Tuesday's elections: Bad omens for Democrats — The off-year elections for governor in Virginia and New Jersey tend to receive outsize attention, and the results are mined for deeper meaning about what they portend for the midterm elections the following year that determine which party controls Congress.

Discussion: Washington Post, Financial Times, Washington Post, The Times of Israel, PIX11, NBC New York, Just The News, NBC Boston, Al Jazeera, WFXRtv, Los Angeles Times, The Guardian, The Daily Beast, Washington Examiner and CNN

Jim Swift / The Bulwark:

How McAuliffe Lost Virginia — An uninspiring candidate with no big ideas and terrible messaging. — Going into the 2021 gubernatorial election in Virginia, a state that Joe Biden won by ten points, former governor Terry McAuliffe likely reasoned that he had a good chance of repeating his remarkable feat from eight years earlier:

Discussion: Virginia Mercury, Washington Post, National Review, Breitbart, Associated Press, CNN, KTLA, Washington Examiner and Mother Jones

Dan Balz / Washington Post:

A sobering reality hits Democrats after Tuesday's elections losses — Democrats awoke Wednesday to a sobering reality. A year after celebrating victory in the 2020 elections, their slender congressional majorities are now even more at risk than they feared, and it is not clear that President Biden …

Discussion: Fox News, USA Today, Politico, Bloomberg, The Daily Wire and Florida Politics

Robby Soave / Reason:
Glenn Youngkin Defeated Terry McAuliffe Because Democrats Betrayed Parents

Discussion: We Love Trump, RedState and BizPac Review

Washington Examiner:
A deserved Democratic defeat and Republican victory

Discussion: Persuasion, New York Magazine, CBS News, Los Angeles Times and Associated Press

Max Greenwood / The Hill:
Trump gloats as Virginia results come in

Discussion: Fox News, Reuters, CNN, Washington Examiner, Washington Free Beacon, HuffPost, Raw Story, The Western Journal, The Daily Caller, National File, The Reload, Breitbart, We Love Trump, INQUIRE, RedState, Mediaite and Richmond Times-Dispatch

Lisa Lerer / New York Times:
What Youngkin's Win in the Virginia Governor Race Means for Democrats

Discussion: Bloomberg, NBC News, Washington Post, IJR and The American Independent

Domenico Montanaro / NPR:
5 takeaways from Republicans' big win in Virginia and the shocker in New Jersey

Discussion: Newsweek, New York Times, Washington Post, ABC News, Washington Examiner, Vanity Fair, National Review, HuffPost, The Hill and The Atlantic

Trip Gabriel / New York Times:
Who is Glenn Youngkin and How Did He Win the Virginia Governor's Race?

Discussion: HotAir, Washington Post, Jewish Telegraphic Agency and Forbes

New York Times:
Virginia Election Results

Discussion: Reuters, New Republic, Associated Press, Washington Post, The American Independent, No More Mister Nice Blog, New York Magazine, CNN, Alternet.org, Variety, Outside the Beltway, Forbes, Slate, Breitbart, Rolling Stone and Fox News

Aaron Blake / Washington Post:
4 takeaways on Virginia, New Jersey and Election Day 2021

Discussion: Fox News, Politico, Washington Examiner, Washington Times, Wall Street Journal, Real Clear Politics, CNN, Fortune and New York Post

Daniel Greenfield / Front Page Magazine:
Another American Revolution in Virginia

Discussion: Washington Post, Ace of Spades HQ and NPR

Becket Adams / Washington Examiner:
With Terry McAuliffe's defeat in Virginia, the Clinton brand means basically nothing now

Discussion: HotAir, National Review and Fox News

Charles Sykes / Politico:
Terry McAuliffe Bet on Voters Hating Trump. Turns Out They Dislike Democrats More.

Discussion: Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, The Daily Beast, Morning Shots, One America News Network, NBC News and Bloomberg

Washington Post:

Trump campaign payments for ‘command centers’ at D.C. hotels could undermine executive privilege claim in Jan. 6 investigation — It was a month after the 2020 presidential election, and Bernard Kerik was starting to panic. The former New York City police chief and his friend Rudolph W. Giuliani …

Discussion: POLITICUSUSA, Crooks and Liars and Raw Story

Matt Friedman / Politico:

Shocker in New Jersey: Governor's race a nail-biter — New Jersey Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy and Republican challenger Jack Ciattarelli remained locked in a neck-and-neck battle early Wednesday, with the outcome too close to call in a race Democrats had long been confident about winning.

Discussion: Fox News, Wall Street Journal, New York Post, Power Line, The Daily Wire, BizPac Review, CBS New York and The Dispatch

Philip Murphy / New York Times:

New Jersey Election Results — In New Jersey, the headline matchup is between Gov. Phil Murphy, a Democrat, and his Republican challenger, Jack Ciattarelli, a former state assemblyman. The entire State Legislature is also up for election, and there are two ballot questions. Read more »

Discussion: The Daily Caller and RedState

Ed Morrissey / HotAir:

Dem disaster: Did they lose ... *New Jersey*? — Joe Biden won New Jersey by sixteen points one year ago. Polls had incumbent Democrat governor Phil Murphy ahead outside the margin of error. Challenger Jack Ciattarelli jumped out to a lead in early vote counting, but everyone knew Murphy …

Brent Johnson / New Jersey Online:
N.J. election 2021: N.J. governor race still too close to call. Murphy, Ciattarelli waiting for all votes to be counted.

Discussion: NorthJersey.com, UPI, Breitbart, New York Post, Washington Post, Associated Press, Fox News and Twitchy

Zach Williams / City & State New York:

Byron Brown's write-in gambit apparently worked — The former state Democratic Party chair worked with the GOP to seemingly defeat socialist India Walton. — Byron Brown at his election night party on Nov. 2. — When India Walton won the June Democratic mayoral primary for Buffalo mayor …

Discussion: Democrat and Chronicle, Buffalo News, New York Post, New York Magazine, WIVB-TV, Forbes and Washington Examiner

American Greatness:
Democrats Need to Start Losing Elections—For Their Own Sake

Discussion: BuzzFeed News

Carl Campanile / New York Post:
Bail reform backlash spurs Republican Election Day red wave in Long Island

Discussion: VICE and Power Line

Amitai Ziv / Reuters:

U.S. Blacklists Israeli Cyberarms Firms NSO, Candiru for Harming ‘National Security and Interests’ — NSO Group and Candiru developed and supplied spyware ‘to maliciously target government officials, journalists, businesspeople, activists, academics, and embassy workers,’ the U.S. Commerce Department said in a statement

Discussion: Washington Post and CyberScoop, more at Techmeme »

David French / Common Sense with Bari Weiss:

The Threat From the Anti-Woke Right — America is confronting two powerful illiberal movements. Where you stand on their relative threats depends on where you live. … Late last week, my friends Greg Lukianoff and Jonathan Haidt published an important piece in the online journal Persuasion that contained a startling statistic.

Discussion: The Dispatch

Ross Douthat / New York Times:
Republicans Schooled the Left in Virginia

Discussion: Reason and New Republic

Meryl Kornfield / Washington Post:

Why hundreds of QAnon supporters showed up in Dallas, expecting JFK Jr.'s return — In rainy Dallas with temperatures dipping into the low 60s, hundreds huddled with umbrellas, flags and signs to wait for history to be made on Tuesday. Some even brought folding chairs.

David Freedlander / New York Magazine:

Eric Adams's Victory Tour Is Underway — The last day of a 15-month long race for mayor of New York was not boring, even the outcome of the contest was not in doubt. Eric Adams, the Democratic nominee, made his final public appearance on a radio show — in this case, one hosted …

Discussion: Washington Examiner, ABC News and Power Line

Jazz Shaw / HotAir:
Incoming pro-cop NYC Mayor promises a more “business-friendly environment”

Discussion: New York Post, Fox News, Mediaite and Politico

Andrew Jacobs / New York Times:

Widespread Coronavirus Infection Found in Iowa Deer, New Study Says — The analysis by Penn State and Iowa researchers strongly indicates that deer are getting the virus from humans, worrying experts about a deep wild reservoir for the virus. — A new study of hundreds of white-tailed deer infected …

Discussion: bioRxiv and New York Post

Bess Levin / Vanity Fair:

Trump's Odds of Escaping Criminal Charges in Georgia Do Not Look Good — Georgia secretary of state Brad Raffensperger confirms the ex-president threatened him over the 2020 election results while demanding he magically come up with enough votes to beat Biden.

Discussion: The Daily Beast, Fox News, Raw Story and The Hill

U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley of Oregon:

Merkley Statement on Rahm Emanuel Nomination — WASHINGTON, D.C. - Oregon's U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley, a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, released the following statement regarding the nomination of former Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel to serve as U.S. Ambassador to Japan:

Politico:

The end of Manchema — Are they Sinemanch or Manchema? The debate can probably cease. — The centrist Democratic senators from Arizona and West Virginia, once united on shaving down the cost of a party-line social spending bill that started at $3.5 trillion, are now going their own …

Discussion: Yahoo News, NBC Boston, ABC News and Fox News

Star Tribune:

Minneapolis voters reject plan to replace Police Department — Nearly 18 months after George Floyd was filmed pleading for breath under an officer's knee, community groups remain divided on how to change the system. — TEXT SIZE — MORE — Minneapolis voters on Tuesday rejected …

Discussion: HotAir, CNN, National Review, New York Times, The Daily Caller, The Texas Tribune, New York Post, BuzzFeed News, USA Today, Washington Free Beacon, ABC News and TheGrio

Julia Manchester / The Hill:

House GOP campaign arm expands target list after brutal night for Dems — The National Republican Congressional Campaign Committee expanded its offensive target list on Wednesday morning following Democrat Terry McAuliffe's loss in Virginia's gubernatorial contest and a must closer …

Discussion: NRCC, Fox News, Washington Times, National Review, The Daily Caller, Real Clear Politics, Daily Kos and ABC7

Jason Stanley / Rolling Stone:

Tucker Carlson's ‘Patriot Purge’ Is Too Crazy to Believe — and Too Dangerous to Ignore — The Fox News host's series on the Jan. 6 insurrection is a piece of fascist propaganda that wouldn't be out of place in 1930s Berlin — Patriot Purge, Tucker Carlson's new three-part series …