Here are five takeaways from the election results.

Glenn Youngkin, a Republican concern executive, marched to triumph successful Tuesday’s election, delivering his enactment the governorship of Virginia and highlighting a beardown nighttime for Republicans little than a twelvemonth aft voters pushed them afloat retired of powerfulness successful the nation’s capital.

The result successful Virginia, combined with an unexpectedly adjacent contention successful New Jersey, wherever the governor’s contention remained excessively adjacent to call, delivered a jolt of encouragement for Republicans and a stark informing motion for the Democrats little than 10 months into President Biden’s term.

Here are 5 takeaways from Tuesday’s contests and what the results could mean for 2022, erstwhile power of the House, Senate and 36 governorships volition beryllium connected the ballot:

Youngkin’s occurrence crossed the authorities offers a G.O.P. pathway.

Republicans suffered repeated down-ballot losses successful the past 4 years, arsenic the enactment grappled with however to motivate a basal profoundly yoked to Donald J. Trump without alienating the suburban voters who came to cull the erstwhile president’s divisive benignant of politics.

Enter Glenn Youngkin and his fleece vest.

Mr. Youngkin pulled disconnected thing of a astonishment and uncommon feat: He drove up the Republican margins successful achromatic and agrarian parts of the authorities further than Mr. Trump had, cutting into the borderline of the Democratic nominee, erstwhile Gov. Terry McAuliffe, successful suburban areas. He adjacent flipped immoderate cardinal counties entirely.

Mr. Youngkin had campaigned heavy connected acquisition and seized connected Mr. McAuliffe’s remark that helium didn’t “believe parents should beryllium telling schools what they should teach.” Mr. Youngkin utilized the comment, made during a debate, arsenic an entryway to hammer his rival connected issues similar contention and transgender rights successful schools. The issues simultaneously motivated the G.O.P. basal portion casting the substance to moderates arsenic an contented of parental rights.

All authorities are presidential. But Biden loomed larger than Trump.

To the grade that the Youngkin triumph provided a caller G.O.P. blueprint, the amazingly beardown showing successful New Jersey by the Republican candidate, Jack Ciattarelli, who was virtually tied with Gov. Philip D. Murphy, a Democrat, made plain that the governmental situation had earnestly degraded for Democrats nationally.

A nationalist NBC News poll successful precocious October showed that 45 percent of registered voters approved of the occupation Mr. Biden was doing, compared with 52 percent who disapproved.

Such diminished lasting offered Republicans an accidental adjacent successful traditionally bluish territory.

Strategists successful some parties said that the Virginia contention was heavy shaped by Mr. Biden’s falling support rating, and that the downward Democratic trajectory had begun erstwhile the president stumbled done the troubled pullout of American troops from Afghanistan.

Mr. McAuliffe and the Democrats ne'er recovered.

The G.O.P. margins marque it adjacent much worrisome for Democrats successful 2022.

The headline, of course, is that Mr. Youngkin won. But for governmental strategists focused connected the midterms successful 2022, his last margin is each spot arsenic revealing astir the trajectory of the 2 parties.

Because Mr. Biden carried Virginia by 10 percent points successful 2020, a Youngkin triumph represents a Republican betterment of much than 10 percent points successful precisely 1 year.

Just arsenic worrisome for the Democrats is that of the 36 governorships up for grabs successful 2022, 8 are present held by Democrats successful states that had a smaller Democratic borderline of triumph successful 2020 than Virginia, according to an predetermination memo for donors from the Republican Governors Association. That database includes 3 of the astir important statesmanlike battlegrounds: Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin.

The governmental mediate inactive matters.

The American electorate is progressively polarized, and a shrinking sliver of voters oscillates betwixt the 2 large parties. But those voters inactive matter. For each ballot that flips to the different side, a run indispensable find 2 caller voters to marque up for the mislaid ground.

For years, it was the Democrats successful Virginia who were obsessed with cutting into the margins successful Republican strongholds and the suburbs.

Takeaways From the 2021 Elections

Yet successful 2021, Mr. McAuliffe ran arsenic a mainline Democrat. He deployed Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, Barack Obama and Stacey Abrams successful a bid to rally his party’s partisan faithful.

If Mr. McAuliffe was seemingly singularly obsessed with his base, the Youngkin run homed successful connected an contented that Democrats typically dominate: education. That absorption helped him marque incursions into Democratic territory.

Democratic ideological factions look disconnected successful cities.

Several municipal races pitted the progressive and mean wings of the Democratic Party. The contests offered mixed results.

In Buffalo, India Walton, who was seeking to go a uncommon antiauthoritarian socialist elected to a mayoralty, conceded to Mayor Byron W. Brown, who waged a write-in run to support his occupation aft losing to Ms. Walton successful the Democratic primary.

In Minneapolis, voters rejected an amendment to alteration the city’s Police Department into a caller Department of Public Safety. At the aforesaid time, the city’s mean Democratic mayor, Jacob Frey, won a 2nd term.

In Seattle, Bruce Harrell, a erstwhile City Council president, was starring his much progressive rival, Lorena González.

The near did people immoderate wins. In Boston, Michelle Wu, who was moving with the backing of progressives, won the mayor’s race. And successful Cleveland, Justin Bibb, a 34-year-old with progressive backing, is acceptable to go politician arsenic well.