Democrats fend off Republican sweep in win for women's right to abortion

Virginia Democrats won majorities in the state’s two legislative chambers, defeating Republican Governor Glenn Youngkin’s effort to unify GOP control and stymieing momentum that he could’ve used for a possible presidential springboard.
 

Tuesday’s vote, which saw every seat in the House of Delegates and state Senate up for election, was closely watched for how it might affect both next year’s presidential election — and Youngkin’s political future.
 

Going into the race, Republicans held a narrow majority in the House of Delegates and had ambitions of flipping the Senate.

Democratic victories weren’t isolated to Virginia. The party also had successes in Kentucky, Ohio and Pennsylvania, a sign that the party’s messaging, particularly around abortion rights, is resonating with voters.
 

The victory is a major boon for President Joe Biden, whose party for a second time during his time in the White House bucked historical trends by fending off anticipated Republican surges in mid-cycle elections. Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear won a second term as a Democrat, Ohio voters endorsed abortion protections and Youngkin failed to flip the Virginia legislature. 

Virginia Democrats had at least a one-seat majority in both the House and Senate, with the results still being counted early in the day.

Vin Gopal re-elected

Indian-American state Senator Vin Gopal has been re-elected for a third term in the New Jersey Senate, winning the 

most expensive legislative races in state history.
 

The 38-year-old Democrat Senator defeated his Republican challenger, Steve Dnistrian, in New Jersey’s 11th Congressional District on Tuesday, garnering nearly 60 per cent of the vote over Dnistrian and helping to flip control of both of the district's Assembly seats for Democrats.
 

Gopal is the youngest member of the New Jersey State Senate and the first South-Asian American to be elected to the Senate in the state’s history.
 

Polls were open in at least 37 states of the US on Tuesday. New Jersey's legislature comprises the state Senate and Assembly and has 120 members from 40 districts. Each district has one representative in the Senate and two in the Assembly that serve four- and two-year terms.
 

All 120 seats are on the ballot in November’s general election, according to The Philadelphia Inquirer newspaper. The Republican-leaning 11th District had been a major focus of the Republicans this year, according to the New Jersey Monitor 

news portal.