Analysts Unpack What to Watch for in New York, Virginia Races

It might be an off year, but there are still elections on Tuesday that will be critical for this nation. From gubernatorial races in New Jersey to the closely watched mayoral race in New York City to a slew of major races in Virginia. Joining us to unpack the two most watched states this year are two guests, Victoria Manning, Virginia Beach resident and senior investigative researcher with Restoration of America and New York City Council Republican candidate for Manhattan District 5, Alina Bonsel. Thank you both so much for joining us. Now, Alina, I want to start with you as it seems the whole nation is watching the New York City mayoral race. Break down for us what you're watching for in this race and the main differences of these three candidates. >> I mean, we just had a really crazy turnout. I mean, I expected this. Obviously, this election has been on the front pages since June. It has gone viral international. We expected voter turnout like this. Uh but just early early voting is you know as of yesterday it was 584,000 people that voted in early voting where if you compare it to you know 2021 we had in totality 64,000 votes. So we are projecting to hit over 1 million votes which is crazy considering this is not a presidential election. So people are just so excited and they want to cast their vote. Their vote finally matters. >> I want to unpack that a bit later, but Victoria, your state of Virginia is often seen as a bellweather of where the public is leaning on the presidential administration. There's a slew of races actually in that state from governor to all seats in the House of Delegates to the highstakes attorney general race. Give us a sense how important these are and which races the rest of the nation should keep an eye on. We have some very important races, especially the House of Delegates in Virginia. As you mentioned, currently the House of Delegates, the Senate has Democrat control, and in the House of Delegates, there's a 51 to 49 control of Democrats. Republicans have an opportunity this year to to change that and they're hoping to make that happen and or to also gain and keep the governor's seat this year. if they don't, the Democrats can push through their pretty far-left agenda. So, Republicans are really focusing on that. And as Alena said, we've also had some very high turnout here in the state for early voting. We have 45 days of early voting here in Virginia. We call it election season rather than election day. And we've seen that same voter high voter turnout here in our state. On that note of voter turnout, Alina, given this is an off year, what are the issues driving voters to the polls in the Big Apple. >> So, we looked at the early data right now and we're seeing that the average age of a voter is 52 years old. And these are the voters and I've been out in the streets. I've been speaking to many, you know, they're very scared of obviously Zora and Mandami. They're worried about their tax burdens going up. They're worried worried about anti-semitism rising. I I live in an area where there's a lot of Jewish residents. You know, they're worried about public safety. You know, if he is going to be mayor, what is this going to happen? Is our police force going to resign? Their morale is going to get lowered. So, they're coming out in droves and they're voting because they are scared and that is the number one driver. They are scared. >> I want to dig into that a little bit, but Victoria, first, what about in Virginia? What are, you know, what's bringing people to the polls in Virginia? similar issues to New York or different ones. >> In Virginia, I think affordability is one of the big issues. We have a pretty significant car tax. To own a vehicle, you have to pay an annual personal property tax that's pretty hefty. So, that's been at the center of some of the campaigns. Also, sanctuary cities has been an issue. In February, the governor Yncan issued an executive order calling on the state police and local law enforcement to cooperate with ICE. Yet, the Democrat gubanatorial candidate Abigail Spamberger has promised to resend that executive order of Governor Yncan. So, that has become a center point of these races. And then on the negative side on the attorney general's race, um the texting scandal of Democrat attorney general candidate Jay Jones who threatened to um who wanted to murder called for the murder of one of his political opponents and also called for the death of his children. So that's dominated the conversation in these races these last couple of weeks. >> I want to get to that texting scandal issue, but first Selena, back to you. In terms of this voter turnout, it almost seems like we're in uncharted territory when it comes to, you know, young voters. There's a surprising number turning out, but to your point, early voting does show some of the older population coming out. So, it be interesting to see how accurate the polls are in the end. Taking a step back here though, what do you see the role of social media playing in this race, especially, you know, Manny being quite active online versus say Cuomo and Siwa? >> So, social media is so important. I know for a fact I'm a first-time candidate. Um I had no name recognition and everybody knows my name now in my district. My posters are everywhere. We have incredible momentum. We have ground game. I've actually doing something really innovative um in New York City. I have trucks with my video playing on loop discussing my platforms, my background, and also telling voters that I will be the voice of reason in a very left liberal city hall. We have right now 51 council seats. Every seat is up for re-election and there's only six Republicans. We have a left supermajority. So these videos, they're continuously playing and all the candidates that either my opponent or even the mayors, they're all trying to get these trucks right now. These trucks are innovative. They're a gold mine. They are the new way of campaigning right now. So this is also driving voters out. I had so many people come up to me and they said, you know, we're Democrats, but we're voting for you. We're voting down the party line for everybody else, but we're voting for you. And then there are some that are just saying, you know what, we're no longer voting blue. We're voting party line down red. So, it it is a mixed bag. So, it's really interesting to see where we land. >> Definitely a lot uh to unpack there. And quite interesting, as you pointed out, Victoria, though, I want to go back to that text message scandal that is plaguing Jay Jones. How has that been playing out in the state? Is that affecting other races in Virginia? >> I do believe it is affecting other races. Jason Mirez has seen a big bump um in his campaign. He is now ahead by most polls by at least five points. And we've seen the uh governor's race as well as lieutenant governor's race tighten. The last poll that I saw from just a couple of days ago has winsome Sears just four points behind and a few weeks ago she was over 10 points behind. So, I do think that that is impacting the other races because there has not been one Democrat who has called for Jay Jones to pull out of the race. So, I do think that that is significantly impacting those races. >> And Alina, as you mentioned, there's that super majority right now that the Democrats have in New York City. Given that the polling is showing Mumani still in the lead right now, talk to us about what happens to New York City if he does become mayor. Can he do all the things he's promising like raising taxes, government grocery stores, free buses, freezing rent? >> So, this is actually a very big disconnect uh that I feel that media in our city is doing a disservice. They're not really educating voters and a lot of them are scared because they believe that he can do all of this when the reality is that he can't because any piece of legislation has to first go through city hall. However, if we reelect the same left supermajority, then guess what? They're going to do what he proposes, right? And that is the real danger. So, that is our opportunity to elect new people, me like me, like myself who's running on the Republican ballot. There's a lot of people running on the independent ballot. As long as we have 26 reasonable voices, right now we have only six Republicans running for reelection, then we have a way to slow him down and stop him because in in reality, he cannot raise the taxes. He cannot create government run grocery stores. He cannot, you know, do anything that he has been so publicized to want to do because we have a firewall in that city hall. >> Definitely a lot to watch for there for sure. Victoria, expanding on that actually given your own research here, what do you think is missing from these conversations, whether that's in New York or Virginia or elsewhere as people head to the polls. >> So, I think one thing that we need to highlight is what happened this week in the state legislature. The Democrats called back a special session and they voted and pushed through uh some redistricting um measures. It's the first step toward a constitutional amendment to change our redistricting procedures. Just a few years ago, Virginiaians voted overwhelmingly to have a bipartisan commission that would construct um district maps for redistricting. And the Democrats want to undo that. They see this as a path to gaining more congressional seats. So, if the Democrats have control after this election, they're going to push that through next year and then put a referendum on the ballot, which could change our congressional maps. >> Definitely a lot at stake here for sure. Victoria Manny, Alina Bonscel, thank you both so much for joining us. >> Thanks for having me.