What will the Virginia and New Jersey governor’s races mean for Biden?

For election commentators, the year following a presidential contest is typically one of slim pickings. There’s a governor’s election in Virginia and one in New Jersey, and that’s about it, as far as high-profile races go (though this year there was a bonus California election).

That hasn’t traditionally stopped pundits from drawing big, broad lessons about what election results in Virginia or New Jersey might mean for national politics. The 2005 Democratic wins sent “a powerful message that President Bush’s political standing has fallen,” wrote the New York Times. The 2009 races...