New York: US President Donald Trump's Republican Party has suffered setbacks in two states losing the governorship of Kentucky and the legislature in Virginia a year away from the presidential election.
Kentucky Governor Matt Bevin lost re-election very narrowly on Tuesday by less than half-a-percent or about 5,100 votes, but the loss is significant because Trump had won Kentucky in the 2016 presidential election with a 30 percent lead.
The defeat of Bevin for whom Trump campaigned was tempered by the victory of Republican candidates in five other state-wide offices like secretary of state and attorney general though with smaller margins compared to Trump's showing an erosion of Republican support.
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In Virginia, both the upper and lower chambers of the state legislature flipped to the Democrats giving them full control of the government for the first time in many decades. Democrat Governor Ralph Northam was already in office.
The Republicans kept the governorship of Mississippi with Lieutenant Governor Tate Reeves winning with a six percent lead much lower than Trump's 17.8 percent.
New Jersey was a silver lining for Republicans. Complete results were not in by early Wednesday morning but the Republicans were set to gain at least four seats. That won't be enough to switch control of the legislature now held by Democrats with a 28-seat margin in the 80-member Assembly.
With the presidential election just under a year away, Tuesday's elections showed that Trump's margins of victory in 2016 had been shaved significantly even when his party candidates won.
