Voters in Virginia and New Jersey send a message: It’s Trump’s economy now

FREDERICKSBURG Va AP Virginia Democrat Nicole Cole and her band spent much of their campaign for the state legislature standing in places like Weis Markets in Spotsylvania County railing against prices that she explained were too high at least for a dozen eggs up to for a pound of ground beef for coffee beans Her effort paid off when she ousted a -year Republican from his state House seat She was one of Virginia Democrats to flip competitive House seats and contribute to big vote wins in her state and New Jersey the only ones with governor s races this year We would greet them at the point of purchase Cole revealed That s when it hurts largest part The cost of living also may have led voters to signal that this is President Donald Trump s economic activity now Specific prices have stabilized or even declined and costs tend to be higher in New Jersey than Virginia But economic concerns which helped Trump return to power in appeared to weigh Republicans down in the two contests for governor in the first major vote after they took control of the White House and Congress according to the AP Voter Poll Democrats Abigail Spanberger and Mikie Sherrill who won those races in Virginia and New Jersey respectively campaigned hard on economic issues and led a sweep for their party in both states The swings were especially dramatic in suburban and exurban areas like Spotsylvania and Morris County New Jersey Morris County is part of a traditionally Republican state legislative district where liberal Democrat Marisa Sweeney and one of two incumbent Republicans are so close in the vote count that The Associated Press considers the race which will have two winners too close to call You go into the grocery store you see what things cost and it s just not working Sweeney explained Paying the bills Over the past decade places like Morris and Spotsylvania counties have become increasingly competitive communities just beyond major metro areas where midterms are often won or lost Morris County is about miles west of New York City Spotsylvania County is just south of Fredericksburg Each is about two-thirds white slightly wealthier than the national average and at or above it in the share of residents with bachelor s degrees Heading into both looked like they would be close Cole s district includes part of the Republican-leaning county which Trump carried in and and GOP Gov Glenn Youngkin won it by more than percentage points in between Still Cole remained persuaded that she could flip her district which includes part of Spotsylvania and Caroline counties Early on in my campaign when I brought in my staff one of the main messages I talked to them about was that we need to stop saying this district is red and that it leans red Cole declared adding We had to give selected encouragement that this is feasible to the people who aren t red Cole who was elected to the Spotsylvania County School Board in developed a playbook focused on the cost of living and guidance Two weeks before the Nov voting process she spoke at a town hall in Fredericksburg about tackling high potency bills from electric utilities You know you have to have heat and air and a utility bill that has to get paid she announced So then something else is a sacrifice The quality of food that you re able to buy for your kids is a sacrifice As she greeted voters in November after the poll largest part people were tired of talking politics But one voter Kaitlyn Sapp seemed interested in learning what Democrats would do for her I did not vote this year Sapp mentioned I have not been very political But in the past few days I have been trying to learn more Cole smiled not wasting a second before rattling off the issues her party aimed to tackle next year wellness care costs populace learning utility bills and so on Prices to pay Morris County also swung dramatically to Democrats It was one of just four New Jersey counties to back both Democrat Joe Biden in the presidential race and Republican Jack Ciattarelli in the governor s race the next year Biden won Morris County by percentage points and Ciattarelli carried it by more than percentage points That percentage point swing was the sixth-largest among the state s counties By Trump narrowly flipped Morris County winning it by just under percentage points This time around Sherrill edged Ciattarelli there Sherrill s win is not all that surprising and she is no stranger to the county The governor-elect represented it while serving in Congress and had a track record of working with state Republicans in the county She has a lot of crossover appeal with Republican voters declared Darcy Draeger chairwoman of the Morris County Democrats Voters seemed to pay attention to how the president s policies were affecting them declared Sweeney whose district includes part of the county People are watching the news and they re looking to see what goes on in Trump s administration and they are seeing how it affects people locally and with the whole regime shutdown and people losing their SNAP benefits Sweeney explained We re talking about people within our own communities It s an outlook shared by various conservatives The all-encompassing effect of Trump s second administration and his clash with congressional Democrats cost the party in New Jersey Republicans disclosed We need to make sure that our constituents understand that we are here to serve and that we re listening to their voices revealed Republican state Sen Anthony Bucco of Morris County I think the message was drowned out a little bit by Washington Passaic a northern New Jersey county not far from New York is another area that shows a shift back to Democrats The county which has heavily Latino areas went for Trump in the first time it went for a Republican in decades This year it swung back to Democrats by double digits John Currie the longtime Democratic chairman in Passaic chalked up the swing back to his party there to hard work by those running along with a message about lowering costs And by not talking about costs enough Currie stated Republicans paid the ultimate price Affordability it s that simple