Parental outrage, President Joe Biden’s plummeting approval ratings, and economic uncertainty have all shaped Virginia’s gubernatorial contest in its turbulent final weeks, during which Democrat Terry McAuliffe and Republican Glenn Youngkin have polled dead even in a state where Republicans have not won an election for statewide office since 2009.

McAuliffe has worked all year to nationalize the race and paint Youngkin as part of a broader GOP that has become too radical to govern. That strategy could be backfiring in the last stretch of the race, as the national outlook for the Democratic Party has worsened since McAuliffe began that approach.