“President Biden’s slumping approval ratings and gridlock on Capitol Hill have raised the risk that Democrats could lose the Virginia governor’s race, according to party insiders who fear a defeat could spark broader legislative and electoral problems in the coming year,” the Washington Post reports.

“In a sign of the rising anxieties, the party’s nominee in Virginia, former governor Terry McAuliffe, is imploring Democrats in Washington to resolve their disputes and enact a sweeping infrastructure plan that has passed the Senate but faces hurdles in the House.”

Said McAuliffe: “Democrats have got to quit talking, and they’ve got to get something done. You got elected to get things done. We have the House, Senate and White House.”

For members: Is the Virginia Governor’s Race Really a Toss Up?

A new Roanoke College poll in Virginia finds Terry McAuliffe (D) maintains a 7-percentage point lead over Glenn Youngkin (R) in the race for governor, 48% to 41% with 9% still undecided.

The last Virginia gubernatorial debate between Terry McAuliffe (D) and Glenn Youngkin (R) was interrupted by third-party candidate Princess Blanding, forcing the forum to go to a commercial break.

“President Joe Biden can’t afford Terry McAuliffe to lose the governor’s race in Virginia — and the White House knows it,” Politico reports.

“It’s a scenario the president and his aides and close allies increasingly view as a real possibility, given tightening poll numbers in the race and signs of Democratic apathy. The White House, Democratic National Committee and outside partners are closely coordinating their efforts and speaking almost daily… Just over a month before Election Day, they are planning to ramp up activity and engagement — in addition to the $5 million the DNC has already budgeted for Virginia.”

“Rep. Karen Bass (D-CA) entered the 2022 race for Los Angeles mayor Monday, shaking up an already crowded field hoping to replace outgoing Mayor Eric Garcetti,” the AP reports.

A new Monmouth poll in Virginia finds Terry McAuliffe (D) leading Glenn Youngkin (R) in the governor’s race, 48% to 41% among registered voters.

A range of potential electorate scenarios shows McAuliffe ahead by anywhere from 3 points (48% to 45%) to 7 points (50% to 43%) depending on the likely voter model. Youngkin does better when more low-propensity voters are included in the mix.

Specifically, McAuliffe has a lead among voters who have cast ballots in every general election since 2016 (51% to 44%) and those who participated in 4 of the last 5 general elections (49% to 43%). Among those who voted in only 2 or 3 elections and are considered less reliable voters, the race is much closer (44% for McAuliffe and 42% for Youngkin).

Rep. Karen Bass (D-CA) “is planning to announce that she will run for mayor of Los Angeles in 2022, joining a high-stakes race to run the second-most populous city in the country,” the Washington Post reports.

“Biden has nominated the current mayor of Los Angeles, Eric Garcetti, to serve as ambassador to India. Should Garcetti win confirmation for the job in the Senate, the Los Angeles City Council will have the power to appoint his replacement.”

Speaking before a group of Democratic leaders, Miami Beach city commission candidate Kristen Rosen Gonzalez (D) called herself “the most high-profile Hispanic Democrat in the city of Miami Beach,” the Washington Post reports.

However, Rosen Gonzalez is not Hispanic. The 48-year-old picked up the latter name after she married her ex-husband, Emilio Gonzalez. They divorced in 2009.

A new University of Mary Washington poll in Virginia finds Glenn Youngkin (R) leading Terry McAuliffe (D) in the race for governor, 48% to 43%.

This result may be an outlier as the polling average currently shows McAuliffe with a 3.5 point lead.

New Yorker: “Days after the winds of the recall have settled, what do we know? For starters, the cost: an estimated two hundred and seventy-six million dollars on the tab of California taxpayers, who landed back where they started, with a mostly unobjectionable Governor (in the run-up to the recall election, Newsom’s approval rating rose from fifty-two per cent to fifty-seven) and, quite possibly, the low-key self-hatred of someone who blew his bonus on an ill-advised, hard-to-remember night.”

“That cost figure doesn’t factor in the time devoted to the recall—not yours, not mine, but certainly the Governor’s and his staff’s—which, in light of political leaders’ already being thought to spend too much of their terms campaigning and fund-raising, is a curious hair-of-the-dog cure for the complaint.”

A new Washington Post-Schar School poll in Virginia finds Terry McAuliffe (D) and Glenn Youngkin (R) locked in a tight race for Virginia governor, with McAuliffe just ahead at 50% to 47% among likely voters.

Among registered voters, McAuliffe has a 49% to 43% edge over Youngkin — but neither lead is statistically significant.

“The smaller margin among people likely to vote, combined with a low percentage of voters who say they plan to vote early, suggests that Democrats could face an enthusiasm gap and a challenge boosting turnout to the high levels of the past four years.”

Former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) said he was relieved that Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) kept his job, although he “declined to say how he voted in the special election,” the Los Angeles Times reports.

Said Schwarzenegger: “It’s better to stay with someone who you know what they’re going to do, rather than someone who comes in wacky and is changing everything around.”