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New Jersey Gov.-elect Phil Murphy (C) arrives for an election night rally on November 7, 2017 in Asbury Park, New Jersey. (Photo by AFP)
Washington(ANN)-The election victory of several Democratic candidates in a number of US states this week is a referendum on Republican President Donald Trump and “backlash” against his policies, analysts say.
Democrats attributed much of their success Tuesday to an energized party base that is deeply opposed to Trump’s policies and his rhetoric.
The victories in the states of New York, New Jersey, Washington and Virginia are a “backlash to Trump and his policies and rhetoric and his personality,” said Scott Bennett, a former US Army psychological warfare officer.
There is a high possibility that Trump lose in the next presidential elections and become a one-term president, Bennett told Press TV on Wednesday.
Despite enjoying direct support from Trump, Republican contenders this week lost three major head to head battles with their Democratic rivals in the gubernatorial and mayoral elections.
At the gubernatorial level, Democrat Ralph Northam defeated Republican Ed Gillespie in a hotly contested race in Virginia, which many analysts viewed as a referendum on Trump.
The victory was “a backlash to Trump and Trumpism, pure and simple,” wrote Larry Sabato, director of the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia.
The other major defeat for the Trump camp on Tuesday happened in New York City, where Democrat Bill de Blasio was comfortably re-elected as the mayor of Trump’s hometown.
In Washington state, control of the state senate also went to Democrats, when Manka Dhingra won a special election, giving the party a one-seat majority, and putting the state government fully under the control of Democrats.
The results have stirred concern in the Republican camp, as they provide a sneak peek into the midterm congressional elections next year, where they have to defend their slim 52-48 Senate majority against Democrats.