Article snippet: Democrats scored a pair of major gubernatorial victories Tuesday, based on ABC News' analyses of the exit poll and vote, landing new governors in New Jersey and Virginia as the party attempted to showcase resilience one year after President Donald Trump's surprise election victory. In Virginia, which was expected to be the closer of the two races, Democratic Lt. Gov. Ralph Northam prevailed over former Republican National Committee chairman Ed Gillespie, based on ABC News' analysis of the vote, while in New Jersey, former U.S. Ambassador to Germany Phil Murphy beat Republican Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno, based on ABC News' analysis of the exit poll. Northam received 53.9 percent of the vote to Gillespie's 44.9 percent in Virginia, with over 99 percent of precincts reporting, as of 10:30 p.m. EST. Murphy attained 55.3 percent of the vote in New Jersey to Guadagno's 42.7 percent with over 88 percent of the state's precinct's reporting, as of 10:30 p.m. EST. The Virginia race, in particular, took on the air of a referendum on Trump throughout the campaign. The commonwealth's status as a swing state in presidential years and the stark divide between its suburban northern region and rural Appalachian southwest turned it into a representative test case on the country's response to the two major political parties a year after electing the former real estate mogul. Though Trump had not personally campaigned for the Republican in Virginia, Northam’s camp... Link to the full article to read more