Republican Glenn Youngkin is set to be elected as Virginia’s next governor in a major upset, according to US media projections.
He is 2.7 points ahead of Democrat Terry McAuliffe, with more than 95% of votes counted.
Mr McAuliffe, who served as governor from 2014-18, saw his opinion poll lead vanish in recent weeks.
The ballot has been widely seen as a referendum on Joe Biden’s presidency, and defeat will unnerve the Democrats.
Mr Biden won by 10 points in Virginia just a year ago.
In a speech to cheering fans, Mr Youngkin called his victory a “defining moment”.
“Together, we will change the trajectory of this commonwealth. And friends, we are going to start that transformation on day one.”
Mr McAuliffe is yet to concede and sounded confident while addressing supporters after the vote.
In more potential good news for Republicans in Virginia, their candidate, Winsome Sears, is tipped to become the first black female lieutenant governor of the state, which was the former seat of the pro-slavery Confederacy during the American Civil War.
The Republican candidate for Virginia attorney general, Cuban American Jason Miyares, was also leading that vote count. And Republicans seemed to be closing in on control of the state’s House of Delegates.
In other elections across the US on Tuesday:
- New Jersey’s Democratic Governor Phil Murphy is in an unexpectedly tight race as votes are counted in his re-election bid against Republican challenger Jack Ciattarelli
- Amid surging crime, Minneapolis voters rejected a proposal to replace the city’s police department with a new Department of Public Safety, more than a year after the murder of George Floyd by an officer
- As expected, former police officer Eric Adams has won New York City’s mayoral election to replace Democratic Mayor Bill de Blasio
- In other races, voters in Boston elected their first woman of colour as mayor, Michelle Wu, an Asian-American, and Pittsburgh picked its first black mayor, Ed Gainey
Mr Youngkin will be the first Republican elected to statewide office in Virginia since 2009.
The political newcomer focused during the bitterly fought election on crime and the economy, as well as how schools handle race, gender and mask mandates.
Mr McAuliffe campaigned on other cultural issues, such as abortion rights and voting reform.
But the Democrat’s critics hammered him for saying during a debate: “I don’t think parents should be telling schools what they should teach.”
