VA Governor Youngkin To Campaign And Fundraise For Joe Lombardo

Last November, Republican Glenn Youngkin rocked the Democratic establishment with a narrow but decisive win over former Virginia governor Terry McAuliffe. This upset garnered national attention and concern for Democratic incumbents who, like Democratic governor Steve Sisolak, are now vulnerable in the midterms due to the toxicity of President Joe Biden’s cratering polling numbers. In a scoop obtained by Politico, Youngkin is looking for another upset in a gubernatorial race, but this race is in Nevada.

As reported by Politico:

Youngkin, a Republican who took office this year after winning a November 2021 election, is slated to campaign and fundraise for Nevada gubernatorial candidate Joe Lombardo on Sept. 15, according to campaign plans shared first with POLITICO.

“I am looking forward to hitting the trail over the next two months to help great Republican candidates like Sheriff Joe Lombardo flip blue states red,” Youngkin said in a statement, adding: “We saw a movement start in Virginia last year. I can’t wait to bring the spirit of Virginia to these states and keep that momentum going.”

At the time of Youngkin’s victory, The Globe reported:

Last week, The Nevada Globe wrote that Democrats in the state have begun to fret about the effects Joe Biden‘s low approval numbers would have on their own races. Tuesday’s election prove that worry is well founded.

In 2020, Joe Biden won Virginia by 54.1 to 44 — just over 10 points. On Tuesday, Republican newcomer Glenn Youngkin beat former Gov. Terry McAuliffe by 50.9 to 48.4— 2.5 points. That’s a 12.6-point swing for the Republicans.

In November 2021, Biden’s numbers in Virginia stood at 51% who disapprove vs 38 who approve. That means a net of minus 13 —a stark turnaround from a year earlier, when he won by over 10 points. That change in sentiment obviously propelled Youngkin to victory.

But in Nevada, the numbers for Biden look way worse than in Virginia. According to a recent polls conducted by Civiqs, 55 percent of Nevadans disapprove of Biden.

NEW: @Civiqs / 08/21

Biden Job Approval
Approve 36%
Disapprove 55%

Independents
Approve 26%
Disapprove 63%

Georgia: 32/57
Arizona: 34/58
Michigan: 36/55
Nevada: 37/55
New Mexico: 37/54
Pennsylvania: 38/53
Wisconsin: 39/54
New Hampshire: 40/51https://t.co/pm6mEdfpy0 pic.twitter.com/KSDTsTig9F

— InteractivePolls (@IAPolls2022) August 22, 2022

The race between Sheriff Lombardo and Governor Sisolak is in a statistical dead heat. A recent survey conducted by The Tarrance Group reveals Lombardo getting 44 percent of the vote and Sisolak at only 46 percent of the vote. There are five percent who would vote NOA and five percent are undecided.

Sisolak has been “stuck at a ceiling” of 46 percent of the vote for the past six months– an extremely weak position for an incumbent to be in– due in large measure to his poor performance among both Independent voters and Hispanic voters. Sisolak is down 33 percent of the vote among Independents and trails Lombardo by 16 points.

The economy trends as the primary concern across all demographics and this concern does not bode well for Sisolak. Although Sisolak claims that Nevada is “on the move” and he has “lowered the cost for Nevadans” by doling out free lunches, Nevadans still struggle during a recessive economy that has produced 15.4 percent inflation, the fifth highest grocery expenditures, the third highest gas prices, the 11th highest housing costs, and one of the worst unemployment rates in the country at 4.4 percent.