"The last two-and-a-half months makes it look like Democrats are in disarray," Rep. Filemon Vela, D-Texas, told The New York Times. "A close race in Virginia would signal just how hard the midterms will be for Democrats and the urgency of passing democracy reform," Justice Democrats spokesman Waleed Shahid told the Times. The last time the Democrats controlled the White House and both chambers of Congress, 2009, a Virginia gubernatorial loss led to the loss of House and Senate control. "Somebody reminded me: In '66, after all we did in '65, we got beat," Democrat Rep. Robert Scott of Virginia told the Times. "Progressives should wake up and realize that linking the two processes together was a huge mistake," he told the Times.

Source: New York Times October 31, 2021 17:45 UTC