Biden easily won Virginia. Why is McAuliffe struggling?

By STEVE PEOPLES
Associated Press

ROANOKE, Va. (AP) — Democrat Terry McAuliffe walked into the Virginia governor’s race late last year as the overwhelming frontrunner in a state former President Donald Trump had just lost by 10 percentage points. But less than a week before the final votes are cast, McAuliffe is locked in a dead heat against a political newcomer who is threatening to become the first Republican to win statewide office in Virginia in more than a decade. Publicly, McAuliffe is confident in his campaign against Republican businessman Glenn Youngkin, but the handwringing and finger-pointing has quietly begun among Democrats in Virginia and beyond who are openly contemplating the possibility of a worst-case scenario on Nov. 2.