Election Day 2017 Is A Big Test Of Donald Trump’s Presidency

Amid U.S. President Donald Trump’s sinking approval rating and the non-stop probe into Trump-Russia links, the president is facing a major test of his presidency on Election Day 2017.

The governor’s races in Virginia and New Jersey will become the first statewide races since Trump won the presidential election last November. And while elections in the two states have for decades been in the media spotlight because they are the first major statewide political contests after a new president assumes office in the U.S., President Trump’s controversial first months as president have ignited the interest of America even more.

One election, in particular, has received most of the attention on Election Day 2017. In Virginia, voters are divided by race and education as the state is about to vote for the Republican Ed Gillespie or the Democrat Ralph Northam. This year’s election in Virginia bears a striking resemblance to last year’s presidential election when Trump triumphed over Democrat Hillary Clinton in a tight race for the White House even though the Democrat candidate had led most of the polls prior to Election Day 2016.

The latest polls in Virginia show that the state is not only divided along demographic lines but also that the Democrat has a slight edge over the Republican. A new poll by Monmouth University Poll, unveiled on Monday, gave Northam a 2 percent lead, 47 percent to 45 percent.

According to several television ads that have fired up the Virginia election, it’s a race between a Democrat who wants to allow sanctuary cities in Virginia and is responsible for the growth of the notorious El Salvadoran gang MS-13 in the state and a Republican who chases minority children in a black pickup truck toting a Confederate flag.

The anti-Gillespie TV ad, which asked viewers, “Is this what Donald Trump and Ed Gillespie mean by ‘The American Dream’?” was pulled last week following Wednesday’s truck attack in New York City. The implication of the ad was that the Republican candidate’s campaign was based on hate and violence, which many thought Gillespie borrowed from President Trump.

Gillespie’s campaign tactic appealed to the anxieties and frustrations in his state, highly reminiscent of Trump’s narrative on his presidential election campaign trail. In 2016, 35 percent of Virginia voters answered in the exit polls that immigrants hurt America.

Gillespie’s campaign also focused on defending Confederate statues, which became a sore spot in the wake of white supremacist marches through the streets of Charlottesville, Virginia, in August. While many believe that Virginia should be an easy win for Democrats on Election Day 2017 – after all, it was the only Southern state that Clinton won last year – the latest polls show a tight race.

The Virginia election could be an early forecast of next year’s midterm elections when a third of the Senate and the full House will be up for election. For Democrats, winning Virginia this year could make their first post-2016 statement that the president is losing his popularity in the country. For Republicans, Gillespie’s triumph could translate into the party’s political success in 2018 midterm elections.

[Featured Image by Andrew Harrer-Pool/Getty Images]