Republican Glenn Youngkin on Nov. 2 defeated Democrat Terry McAuliffe in the race for the governorship of Virginia. Youngkin led McAuliffe 50–48, with 99 percent of the precincts reporting at 8:50 a.m. ET on Wednesday. Republicans swept all three competitive elections in Virginia on Tuesday, with Winsome Sears winning the lieutenant governor contest and Jason Miyares triumphing in the race for the seat of the state’s attorney general, according to projections by Decision Desk HQ. The contest in Virginia was one of the most closely watched races in the off-year election and was viewed by some as a referendum on the Biden presidency. Youngkin and McAuliffe fought an intense campaign over some of the most heated issues animating the United States, including abortion, critical race theory, and former President Donald Trump. The race was also, politically, a test of how an electorate more concerned about the economy than the pandemic would …