Where Democrats are losing voters, per Tuesday's results


According to an analysis of the situation by NBC News' Meet the Press, the most troubling takeaway from Democrats' less-than-ideal showing in Tuesday's off-year elections wasn't that perhaps former President Donald Trump is no longer as effective a foil as he was in 2020, or that the left lost independent voters in Virginia.
Rather, the more alarming bottom line is that the party is losing "losing white voters, rural voters and voters without college degrees by such large margins that it makes winning elections hard," even in "diverse and highly-educated states" such as Virginia and New Jersey, argues NBC News.
In Virginia's gubernatorial race, for example, exit polls showed white men — who comprised 36 percent of the electorate — went for Republican Glenn Youngkin over Democrat Terry McAuliffe 66 percent to 34 percent, a 2-to-1 margin. With white women, who made up 38 percent of Virginia voters, 57 percent to 43 percent cast their ballot for Youngkin.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
And for the 36 percent of non-college educated white voters, 76 percent chose Youngkin, compared to the 24 percent who preferred McAuliffe, per NBC News. A similar trend can be seen in Republican Jack Ciattarelli's performance in New Jersey.
It is worth nothing, however, that there were somewhat similar numbers in Virginia's 2017's gubernatorial contest, won by Democrat Ralph Northam.
Still, writes NBC, "if you are losing 36 percent of all voters by a 76 percent-to-24 percent margin, it means you have to win 65 percent of all other voters to get to 50 percent-plus one." For the candidate winning these voters by that same margin, "it means you need to win just 35 percent of all other voters."
And that, Meet the Press argues, is the consequence of failing to appeal to those blocs.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Brigid Kennedy worked at The Week from 2021 to 2023 as a staff writer, junior editor and then story editor, with an interest in U.S. politics, the economy and the music industry.
-
June 28 editorial cartoons
Cartoons Saturday's political cartoons include stupid wars, a critical media, and mask standards
-
Thai fish pie with crispy turmeric potatoes recipe
The Week Recommends Tasty twist on the Lancashire hot pot is given a golden glow
-
Palestine Action: protesters or terrorists?
Talking Point Damaging RAF equipment at Brize Norton blurs line between activism and sabotage, but proscription is a drastic step
-
Some mainstream Democrats struggle with Zohran Mamdani's surprise win
TALKING POINT To embrace or not embrace? A party in transition grapples with a rising star ready to buck political norms and energize a new generation.
-
Canadian man dies in ICE custody
Speed Read A Canadian citizen with permanent US residency died at a federal detention center in Miami
-
GOP races to revise megabill after Senate rulings
Speed Read A Senate parliamentarian ruled that several changes to Medicaid included in Trump's "One Big Beautiful Bill" were not permissible
-
Supreme Court lets states ax Planned Parenthood funds
Speed Read The court ruled that Planned Parenthood cannot sue South Carolina over the state's effort to deny it funding
-
Trump plans Iran talks, insists nuke threat gone
Speed Read 'The war is done' and 'we destroyed the nuclear,' said President Trump
-
Trump embraces NATO after budget vow, charm offensive
Speed Read The president reversed course on his longstanding skepticism of the trans-Atlantic military alliance
-
Trump judge pick told DOJ to defy courts, lawyer says
Speed Read Emil Bove, a top Justice Department official nominated by Trump for a lifetime seat, stands accused of encouraging government lawyers to mislead the courts and defy judicial orders
-
Mamdani upsets Cuomo in NYC mayoral primary
Speed Read Democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani beat out Andrew Cuomo in New York City's Democratic mayoral primary