Closely watched contests give glimmer of hope to president’s party as 2024 campaign gets into gear
Kentucky governor Andy Beshear during his victory speech next to his wife Britainy, and lieutenant governor Jaqueline Coleman. Photograph: Jon Cherry/New York Timesstate and local elections, providing a boost for the president as he confronts declining approval ratings ahead of a fight for re-election.
In Virginia, voters dealt a blow to Republican governor Glenn Youngkin by allowing Democrats to reclaim control of the state’s legislature.‘I choose freedom in my homeland’: Georgia’s democracy under scrutiny before EU status decision The numbers prompted hand-wringing among Democrats who have privately fretted about Mr Biden’s age and apparent electoral weaknesses.
Voters in Ohio — an increasingly Republican state that Mr Trump won by 8 percentage points in 2020 — overwhelmingly backed a ballot measure that codified the right to an abortion in the state’s constitution. Mr Biden issued a statement celebrating the result in Ohio, saying “Americans once again voted to protect their fundamental freedoms”. He said Republicans had an “extreme and dangerous agenda” on abortion that was “out of step with the vast majority of Americans”.