Amid a deadlocked virginia-governor-race” target=”_blank”>gubernatorial race <of New Jersey parachutes into the commonwealth on Wednesday to campaign with former Democratic Gov. Terry McAuliffe.
Booker, who grabbed national attention during his run for the White House in the 2020 election cycle, becomes the latest high profile Black Democratic politician to join McAuliffe on the campaign trail as the former governor faces off against GOP nominee Glenn Youngkin in a closely watched contest that public opinion polls indicate is all tied up.
Soaring turnout by Black voters helped the Democrats convincingly win back the House of Representatives in the 2018 midterm elections, and fueled now-President Biden’s victory in the 2020 presidential election.
VIRGINIA GOVERNOR’S RACE DEADLOCKED WITH ONE WEEK UNTIL ELECTION
Democrats are hoping for a repeat performance next week in Virginia, a one-time battleground state that’s trended blue the past decade. Now-President Biden carried us-regionsby 10 points last November and Republicans haven’t won statewide in the commonwealth in a dozen years.
McAuliffe, facing what polls indicate is a enthusiasm gap among Democrats, including Black voters who are a key part of the party’s base, is putting on a full court press to break through the perceived complacency.
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Obama was the biggest – but not the only draw – to team up with McAuliffe.
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A USA Today/Suffolk University poll released on Tuesday, which was the fourth straight survey to show Virginia’s gubernatorial race a dead heat, also indicated McAuliffe winning Black voters by an 81%-6% margin.
The survey’s pollster, David Paleologos, told Fox News that come Election Day “if the Black vote is 20% of the total vote or higher, that puts McAuliffe in the driver’s seat. If the Black vote is between 16%-18%, then Youngkin’s poised to win.” According to the poll, Black voters made up 19.6% of those surveyed.
